Chapter 60: Lines Crossed
Four people could be seen sitting inside an opulent room, the room exudes an air of imperial grandeur, with a deep appreciation for tradition. The color scheme includes deep reds, luxurious golds, and various shades of rich brown and green; many carpets with intricate patterns and vibrant colors cover the floor, adding not only to the opulence of the room but also providing comfort and insulation.
From one of the many windows, fluffy clouds could be seen quite closely, adding an air of otherworldliness that could be felt by everyone inside.
"We will probably reach the resort by tomorrow," Said Nari as she kept drinking her tea with a content expression on her face.
"Can't wait for it! I've been curious about the outside world for so long!" Exclaimed Xi, the hyperactive twenty-year-old Sun Warrior girl.
"Eh… it's okay I guess…" Shrugged Kaliya while drinking her Sake.
"How can you be so nonchalant about it? Weren't you like… trapped in your tribe as well?" Asked Xi with a tone of indignation.
Kaliya on the other hand just shrugged "For the first year or so, I was right like ye… but… once you see one city you've seen all of 'em..."
Xi's eyebrow twitched viciously, but Kaliya wasn't done.
"To make it even worse… the Resort is superior to any other place you will ever see, once ye in there… other places just feel… meh…" The girl with the eyepatch concluded by chugging sake like there's no tomorrow.
While Xi was getting more and more triggered, both Nari and Madara chuckled.
"Well, I won't disagree that the resort is superior to anywhere else, I've built that place!" said Madara with a cheerful tone "But there are many other very unique places that have their own charm…"
Xi's eyes instantly glowed as she turned to Madara "Say more Lord! Tell me of other places!" She shouted in excitement.
Madara just deadpans for a second before taking a deep breath 'me and my loud mouth'.
"Well… Omashu was built around the tales of a certain couple, I don't remember all the details but there is a somewhat romantic background to that city, not only that… it's a very… 'vertical city', like… it's not as big as the Northern Watertribe's capital, nowhere close, but it compensates for verticality, with many tall buildings stacking together, and they were very creative with it. They have many stone slides all over the city that are used to carry stuff around and sometimes even people!" Madara concluded with a chuckle, remembering the scene in the show where Aang and Bumi would abuse the slides for the sake of fun.
"OOOOOH!!!" Xi was trembling in excitement "I want to go there one day! I don't know what a slide is, but it sounds incredible!"
All the other three just deadpan at her reaction 'Why the hell would you get so excited if you don't even know what it is?!'
Coughing, Madara continued "Then there's the big one… Ba Sing Se… that city alone can fit both the Fire Nation and Nothern Watertribe's capital and still have room for my Resort, Omashu, Gao Ling with some left-over space…. And that's just within the inner walls, to be honest… that city is like a nation of its own… And they improved the Slide idea from Omashu turning it into vehicles that safely carry people around, not just two to five or ten but up to hundreds!"
Xi somehow managed to produce a notebook and a charcoal and started writing everything down while nodding her head viciously, for a moment the other three were actually worried that her neck would just snap…
"And what is Gao Ling, Lord?" Xi Asked.
Madara chucked, this girl… "I think Nari here would be the best one to describe Gao Ling, she lived there for years"
Nari raised an eyebrow at that but didn't mind, she was born and raised in Gao Ling, but before she could say anything, Kaliya in all her wisdom interfered.
"Shouldn't ye be…HIC…. piloting the airship, Nari?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, her hiccup was loud and clear to all.
Shaking her head the mature woman replied "You don't expect me to be sitting on a pilot seat for sixteen hours do you?"
"Well.. Jackie did…" She said remembering their trip to her homeland.
Nari facepalmed and let out an exasperated sigh "It's not needed… there are contraptions to keep the airship going in a straight line, unless there are other airships around or an obstacle ahead, there's no need to stay there… I always take half-hour breaks every now and then…"
But then her eyes narrowed "It seems I need to double down on Lei's teachings…" her voice was dangerously oppressive.
""Gulp"" Both Madara and Kaliya gulped hard but Xi was as confused as hell.
"Jackie? Lei? Are you married to two men, Mrs. Nari?"
"…"
""Pfff… BAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"" Both Madara and Kaliya couldn't hold themselves. Even Nari was holding back her own laughter as well.
"Like I would be able to endure the stupidity of more than one man in my life," she said with a joking tone until she stared at Madara who raised his eyebrows.
"I take offense to that!" He spoke.
"You are more like a son to me Madara… you know what… do you want a second 'Jackie' in your life?"
"Ugh…" Madara and Kaliya stared at each other "No I think we are good with just one…."
Nari shrugged "So am I!"
Xi raised her hand to speak, like a good kid. "Oh, I have a question!" She shouted excitedly.
"Sure go ahead…"
"Why do you have two names Lord? Could it be that your parents couldn't decide which name you should have and gave you both of them?" Xi asked, but not a hint of sarcasm was there, she was completely clueless.
The other three chuckled, but it was Nari who answered, Madara was still catching his breath after his laughter and Kaliya was… dead drunk… "Uchiha is his Family name…"
"Family Name? What does that mean?" She asked while looking towards the resident Uchiha.
"Some families, powerful families that have somewhat of a strong legacy to leave behind, can adopt family names… although it's curious that neither the Chief of the Northern Watertribe, the Earth King or the Fire Lord have family names… I mean… it is a hereditary position, and it's a hell of a legacy…. One would think…" Madara said.
Nari, the ever-knowledgeable woman, cleared his doubts "They don't need it… their position is stronger than any name, family names are a symbol of Nobility, not Royalty. That and to earn a family name one must be acknowledged by an already noble family… it's not just a thing of wanting it, the point is… they become equals after nomination, but who would be an equal to nominate the Fire Lord, Earth King, and Water Chief? No one, not in a social status at least."
"By the way Nari… do you want a family name?" Madara wanted to ask this for a while now, Lei and Nari are so close to him, he wanted to at least elevate their social status, he could, so… why wouldn't he?
Nari had a motherly smile on her face as she looked towards her 'son' "There's no need for that Madara…"
"But there's no need for you to reject either!" He spoke
"But-"
"No 'buts', it literally costs me nothing other than acknowledging and nominating you… and I already acknowledged both you and Jackie years ago! Why don't you just accept?! Even Jackie was excited about it back then…"
"We don't want to bring you any burden, you nominating us means that you will be responsible for our family for several years if any of us do something bad… you are the one that they will aim at…"
"So what? Who do you think I am?" He said with a narrow gaze and deep voice.
Nari couldn't help but hug Madara tightly, she wanted, she really… really wanted, but never asked. Madara already offered in the past, but she didn't want to accept and burden him with their issues for the next decade, she always knew he was strong… a very strong man but still just a man… he bleeds and could even be killed… but after seeing him rag dolling two humongous dragons the other day to the point of taming both of them… she couldn't help but agree in her heart, he was not just a man, he is Madara Uchiha, a name that would bring even the toughest of people to tremble in the near future.
"A-and what name have you and my husband come up with?" She asked with tears of happiness in her eyes.
Madara grinned as he gave her a folded piece of cloth with a spiral green dragon in the clouds.
"Wulong."
…
The night eventually fell and they landed safely on a deserted island already in the Earth Kingdom's waters, quite close to the resort actually, but Nari was tired and no one had the heart to ask her to stay up just to arrive a little earlier, it's only a five-hour flight from now on.
Unfortunately, the next day's event made them regret that decision…
As the Airship moved forwards, from a distance, everyone could see some smoke coming out of the horizon, not a lot… but not a little either.
"Isn't that location…" said Kaliya in shock, Nari also was not only shocked but incredibly worried.
Madara was first shocked for several seconds before he frowned and grinded his teeth, the Sharingan already activated and his once carefree, friendly and funny personality went on a complete shift.
"Those bugs…" His voice was low, but his rage and anger could be felt, he understood the tactics, with the Avatar alive and kicking… they wanted to keep Madara in his lands, the worst thing for the Fire Nation would be to have Madara joining Aang at this point.
Would they do it personally? No, they would not send their own soldiers to do the dirty job, that's what mercenaries are for anyway. What they wanted to do was keep Madara busy and always worried about his goldmine and his people.
Would Madara think it was them? Yes, but they are not the only ones trying to bring down his ownership over the western part of the Earth Kingdom, the Dai Li was very much against Madara, already considering him a threat, and they made their move under the name of the Earth King.
So obviously, both parties joined together in this since their goals aligned. Who cares about the War when there's a rare opportunity to solve the immediate threat that is already on their doorstep anyway?
They know that removing Madara from this world was a long shot, but reducing his already huge influence would already be a start! What was the worst that could happen? In their eyes, Madara would retaliate and destroy those mercenaries for good.
Both parties believed that Madara would never act directly against them as it would be counter-productive to his own interests, considering that it was all done under the rug, if Madara acted against it he would be seen as a criminal.
…Poor bastards couldn't even realize that Madara Uchiha didn't play politics…
In less than a second, Madara suddenly disappeared from his position. The other three could only see an open door that led to the balcony.
"H-hey he isn't thinking…" Xi was a bit scared of Madara's visage.
"Nari, lower our altitude and go full speed, the time to be stealthy is over!" Shouted Kaliya with as much rage as Madara in her voice.
"I don't know how they figured out that we left with such little notice." Nari narrowed her eyes with an evil gleam. "But I agree… if anything happened to my husband…" she gripped the control wheel so hard that her hands became pale white.
"But what about Lord Madara?!" Asked Xi in panic.
… bitch… please…
…
Smoke was rising from some of the destroyed resort buildings, the ones close to the shoreline were the ones affected, and many bodies were lying on the ground either bleeding, burned, crushed, or cut.
On the docks, several ships of various sizes were seen trying to take over the harbor.
It was obvious that this was not from any nation in specific just by judging by their attires and ships, they were mercenaries… a shit load of mercenaries, even the foremost ship was from a very well-known mercenary group, the Rough Rhinos.
As the group of bandits were trying their best to kill the resisting guards, everyone could feel the temperature rising exponentially.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
KojiSan
KojiSan Well this chapter took me a while to create, not the writing itself but the idea.
You see with this chapter i basically skipped 2 to 3 Episodes of Last Airbender, one being the stupid episode "the Fortuneteller", which i wanted to anyway, that one is filler just like "The Grand Divide" that i did skip already.
The last one though... "Bato of the Watertribe".. i kinda wanted to add it because June would be part of it and i had some nice funny scenes between Zuko, Iroh, June and Sokka. I might add them as a flashback at some point but i had to skipt it.
The last one is "The Deserter"... i pretty much skipped half of it, meaning that in 2 or 3 chapters from now will be all about the Northern Watertribe, and the whole siege thing.
I also got a bit side tracked the last couple days irl so i didnt write anything, but i already have some scenes planned, the hard part for me is to bring them together to create a coherent story, without ruining the pace.
Anyway i rambled enough! have a good day/afternoon/evening yall! i hope yall enjoyed, and i see you on the comments!
Chapter 61: Consequences
[Beforehand i want to say that i wrote this chapter listening to this OST, and if those interested in listening it while reading, the name is Naruto Shippuden OST (Cover) - Uchiha Madara | 4th Great Ninja War]
.
As the massive wave of heat took over the docks, every single person in the area couldn't help but to look up and not only get shocked but also completely scared.
"…w-what is that?..."
"…I-impossible…"
Someone muttered while others trembled, their weapons falling to the ground, and there were loud gulping sounds coming from them. Most abandoned their combat stances and just stared at what was approaching.
A fireball of titanic proportions, capable of swallowing everyone and everything with ease, approached from the skies above. Actually, calling it a 'fireball' would be an understatement, it was like the Sun decided to descend from the skies and swallow the earth.
From the distance everyone could see as the enemies' ships started burning, sails and wood turning into dust as the 'Mini Sun' devoured every single vessel like a hungry beast.
There was no time to even scream in agony, once the fireball reached the sea surface it turned into a massive pillar of fire and swallowed every single ship around while also creating small tsunamis.
The earth trembled as the people in the resort lands could only stare as the massive wave approached them.
The quick ones managed to run and procure some shelter, the slow ones were left at the mercy of nature, being devoured by the sea never to be seen again.
As everyone was recovering and the invaders were reduced by 50%, and without a way of retreat since their ships were gone, a loud crash sound was heard behind them.
Looking back, they could see an azure flame surrounding a man with a long wild black mane, glowing red eyes, and a very angry expression.
'…Shit…'
The man only stared at them, crossing his arms with his eyes narrowing. His hair flew up as if defying the laws of gravity.
"You are all aware… that no one will ever hear from you again… aren't you?"
Even though they had over a hundred people still ready for combat, no one felt that they could win. No, it was as if they were being stared down by the apex predator of this world.
"This won't even be a dance…"
….
….
"MY LORD!" Shouted a middle-aged man in deep red and black clothes, running towards a luxurious red room with ornated golden dragon pillars and a massive golden wall statue of a dragon facing their subjects.
The elevated altar had only a single seat, and it was separated from the lower area by a trail of flames.
The middle-aged man was sweating, not from heat, but because of the content of the latest report that they received from their falcon carriers.
A tall man with long hair and a golden ornament on top of his ponytail depicting a flame stared at the middle-aged man carrying what looked like a message, his eyes narrowed, he didn't appreciate the abrupt entrance of a servant in his council room.
The lower portion of the room was filled with old men wearing ornate armors, carrying proud dragon badges signifying their rank and nobility, and all those men stared at the newcomer with narrowed gazes.
The middle-aged man instantly bowed "…My Lord! We received…" he gulped hard "The outcome of the invasion against the Ghost Lands."
No one said anything, not even the lord shrouded behind the wall of fire, he simply made a simple gesture, allowing the newcomer to continue.
Taking a deep breath the man said only two words "..C-…Complete A-Annihilation… the Mercenaries … are no more… "
Everyone gulped hard.
For the Fire Nation or even the Earth Kingdom, the threat of five hundred mercenaries was not a big deal, it could annoy them and cost a little, but it was not a threat.
But for a simple resort to be able to completely destroy an army that could pretty much conquer many of the Earth Kingdom's lands with ease… that was 'a bit'…
"N-not only that…. according to this message… the G-ghost alone … demolished them all…" Said the middle-aged man.
"Ridiculous!" One general shouted.
"Impossible!" Shouted another general.
"Silence!" The Fire Lord said with a tone of finality, before staring at the middle-aged man again
"If everyone was killed, how did we receive such reports?"
This made the middle-aged man sweat even more and he started to tremble.
"Speak!" Shouted the Fire Lord.
Nodding his head, the man held the message with his trembling hands "T-the m-message wasn't w-written by our scouts…. It was signed b-by… M-Madara Uchiha…"
Silence again for several seconds until the middle-aged man said.
"A-and after signing, he-he…. He w-wrote… 'See you soon'…"
"PROPOSTEROUS!"
"RIDICULOUS! THAT'S REBELLION!"
The Fire Lord said nothing but everyone could see his eyes narrowing and his eyebrows lowering into a frown shape.
…
At the same time, in an opulent palace with a mix of gold and green, a tall man, partially bald but with a long-braided ponytail, wearing black and green changshan robes demonstrating his affiliation with the Earth Kingdom, was reading the exact same message with a frown.
He said nothing but destroyed the message with an angry expression, but after taking a long breath he looked towards the Throne Room.
"We need to prepare…"
…
Meanwhile, cruising above the clouds on a big fluffy flying bison, Team Avatar was finally on their way to the legendary Northern Watertribe.
Aang was still scared of even considering trying to firebend again, as hurting Katara in his excitement left a permanent mark on his mind.
As the siblings were chatting to one another, everyone felt a massive heat wave pushing against them, even Appa the poor fluffy monster lost stability for a few seconds but with Aang holding the reigns, everything ended up fine.
"What was that?!" Shouted Katara in panic, it was the Arctic sea, it was freezing cold, but that heat wave suddenly made them all sweat.
"Look!" Said Sokka pointing south, towards the horizon.
Aang's eyes went wide and he felt something inside him recoil in fear.
"T-the sky… turned… red…" the young Avatar said, not understanding why he was feeling such fear.
"The heat wave also came from there," Said Sokka with a narrowed gaze.
"Was that firebending?!" Asked Katara after removing the huge fur coat she was wearing due to the heat.
"Impossible!" Shouted Aang. "No one can bend like that!"
"I hope you're right…" Said Sokka.
"Look! That's a huge wave!" Katara shouted while pointing at the horizon, after seeing the aftermath of whatever caused the catastrophe.
Aang shrugged. "Well… at least we are flying…"
Sokka immediately hugged Appa "Have I ever told you how much I love you Appa?"
This made both Aang and Katara chuckle.
Unfortunately for the Fire Nation fleet below… the situation wasn't as … carefree… as it was for Team Avatar, not only were they closer to the shore, but they also were not flying.
"PREPARE FOR IMPACT!" Shouted one of the officers as the massive wave swallowed them.
Admiral Zhao being cold-hearted as always, commanded the Firebenders to go towards the deck and use their fire to dispel as much of the water wave as they could, even Iroh that was a guest on the ship was there to help… hell even Zuko who was pretending to be a regular firebending soldier did as well.
Everyone was feeling the power of the impact.
"That direction..." Zuko said behind his helmet.
"Yes… It is the Resort..." Iroh said in a hushed tone beside his nephew, pretending to be helping him get up after they did their best to escape the wave.
"I-is that… T-teacher's firebending?!" Zuko was scared.
"Most likely." Answered the old General with a serious gaze towards the south.
That day, a third of the invading Fire Nation fleet was completely wiped out. Zhao would never call a retreat, he claimed that it was just a natural disaster and that the Honor of the Fire Nation would never bow to nature, that they are the rulers of this world and would never give up, the remaining fleet continued their course.
…
Xi saw many things, she grew up with the two biggest dragons ever recorded in history, and she knew one of the oldest firebending stances in existence, the Dancing Dragon, herself!
She knew many secrets about spirits and many other things that people consider fairy tales nowadays due to the passage of time.
But absolutely nothing was enough to prepare her for the sight in front of her.
The sun that turned into a fire tornado in the middle of the sea, the size and intensity was something that she would never forget.
Gulp.
"Madara is pissed," Kaliya said with a narrowed gaze. She never calls him by his name in public, it's always 'Boss'. So hearing her speaking like that sent a shiver down Xi's spine for some reason.
"W-was that…. the L-lord?!" Xi couldn't help but ask to confirm it.
"Aye… he did something similar against me once… and I survived by pure dumb luck…." Even Kaliya gulped hard at the sight "But this time I don't think he held back like he did back then…"
Even Nari's hands trembled as she did her damn best to keep the ship stable after receiving that shockwave of heat that almost ruined everything.
She instantly recalled what Madara said not long ago 'So what? Who do you think I am?' and couldn't help but smile a bit, regardless of fear.
Theres no one that wasn't scared shitless of what Madara Uchiha just did, well… almost no one…
In the streets of the resort, surrounded by piles of corpses a man with long flowing dark brown hair was standing straight, staring at the tower of fire that seemed to link the sea and the sky.
He was holding some random raider by the neck, like a chicken. His robes were all destroyed and he was only wearing black pants, white socks, and black kung fu shoes. His back had a massive tattoo of an angry green dragon surrounded by clouds.
The dude was fucking ripped, and his body was covered in burn marks and cuts with blood still being leaked, but he didn't seem to care, he had a smirk on his face as his eyes seemed to glow at the sight of fire.
"You are back!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
KojiSan
KojiSan
Hello there! i usually dont post chapters on weekends but today i was inspired because my Youtube feed was bombarding me with Avatar the Last Airbender videos lol.
So i couldn't hold back and i started writing it! i hope we can finish the Book 1 of ATLA this week! although i don't know if i will derail because of character interactions and events... >_> but the plan is to finish the book one in 5 more chapters tops!
Thank you all who support me, its incredibly challenging to write while having to deal with this obnoxious ADHD shit >_> sometimes im super hyped to write, other times i feel absolutelly no inspiration whatsoever! its really bad.
One thing, i know it can be a bit confusing with the timeline of the POVs, obviously both the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom PoVs are supposed to be days after what happened.. but... i felt that it was more fluid to write in the order of PoVs that i did... idk... it felt more... impactful... while reading... well you tell me on the comments!
Have a great day you wonderful sausages! stay awesome guys!
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