章 23: Chapter XXII: Five Against One
Nathan crept between the trees, each step as quiet as the last. Ignoring the scout's attempt to lose potential followers by moving in a strange pattern, he aimed for the group's hideout directly.
Peering through the darkness of their cave, his eyes adjusted quickly, allowing him to see the four men resting their backs on the rocky walls. He recognised them almost immediately.
'The Rough Rhinos?'
While they only had a few scenes in the show, they were memorable to Nathan due to their team's composition. Each man in their group was a weapon specialist, and combined, they were an effective attack force.
'The one who scouted ahead is probably the Yuyan archer,' he thought with certainty. 'Ozai sure knows how to pick his assassins. I would have trouble dealing with them if they had managed to ambush me.'
Nathan modified the plans he devised. Getting into a fight with them would be pointless, but he also needed a way to make Ozai lower his guard completely. Intentionally turning himself in on the condition that he would live as a prisoner likely wouldn't work. The Rough Rhinos were undoubtedly loyal to the Fire Nation, and if their prince gave the command to kill, they would follow through with little hesitation.
Nathan hid deeper in the shadows as the scout neared. 'I'll wait and see if they'll reveal more info. If I don't have a better option, I'll just go with that plan.'
-=-
[Third Person Point of View - Mongke]
The leader of the Rough Rhinos calmly sat with his back against the wall in a cave, idly twirling his goatee and waiting for the return of his scout, Vachir. As someone who used to be part of the Yuyan Archers, his comrade had the sharpest eyes and ears among them, and he also had the lightest feet, making him the most suitable for the job.
Their mission on this island was simple. Eliminate Nathan, the Earth Kingdom spy, as well as Taroh and his group, traitors who stole war plans and sold them to enemies of the Fire Nation.
A bird call echoed from outside—their scout's signal.
Emerging from the shadows of the cave, Mongke found his tattooed friend standing before him. He was dressed in light leather armor, with a bow and quiver slung over his back. Proudly tattooed on his face was the mark of a full-fledged Yuyan Archer—a red, bird-shaped mark covering both eyes, connecting at his nose bridge.
"What did you find?" Mongke asked.
"Our other target isn't with Taroh's group. I think they went in separate directions."
Mongke clicked his tongue. That wasn't what they expected. "Doesn't matter. We'll just take care of them first. Ogodei, Kahchi, Yeh-Lu, let's go!"
As two burly men and one fully armored man emerged from the cave, Mongke narrowed his eyes and scanned their surroundings. Why did it feel like someone was watching them?
"Vachir," he called out.
"What?"
"Were you followed?"
Vachir shook his head with confidence. "I made sure I ran around in circles first, just in case."
"Hmm." Mongke hummed and disregarded his gut feeling. Maybe that crab squid they ate was just doing something to his stomach. "Alright. Lead us to the traitors."
-=-
[Third Person Point of View]
Taroh and his group carefully navigated through the dark forest, the flickering light from their torches illuminating the tangled undergrowth. Footfalls approaching them from the front halted them in place.
"Who's there?" Taroh asked, brandishing his sword with his uninjured hand. His comrades mirrored his actions as they prepared for battle.
Between the trees, Mongke stepped forward with his hands raised, his face illuminated by the torch. Trying to shake the feeling of familiarity, Taroh racked his brain, attempting to recall where he had encountered that face before.
"I'm Colonel Mongke of the Rough Rhinos."
"The Rough Rhinos?" Taroh widened in recognition. Their group was legendary among Fire Nation soldiers. "W-Why are you here? Where's the rest of your group?"
"I'm here on a special mission, just like you. The rest of my squad is waiting at our camp."
"A special mission?"
Why wasn't he informed about their presence?
"Are you talking about the spies?" Taroh asked.
"Yeah, we're also here for the spies…" Mongke said in an odd tone that sent alarm bells ringing in Taroh's head. "I heard there was another one with you. Where is he?"
"You mean the big guy?" Taroh couldn't remember his name. "We left him behind. He's probably somewhere on the island right now, searching for the spies. Do you want us to help you look for him?"
Mongke smirked. He had a different plan. "Don't worry. We'll make him come to us," he said, clenching one hand into a fist.
Eyes dilating, Taroh near instantly dodged to the side as Mongke jabbed, sending a burst of flames hurtling in his direction.
The rest of his squad weren't so lucky.
The firebender's attack hit two of his men, the sheer power of his flames hurling them back. They attempted to recover, but were immediately intercepted.
Ogodei, a burly, shirtless man, wielded his chain. He wrapped it around the throat of one man and mercilessly tightened it, crushing the man's neck. Kahchi, wielding a heavy polearm with a large blade, swiftly beheaded the other man with a slash.
In perfect coordination with their attacks, two arrows emerged from the trees in quick succession, soaring through the air with precision.
An unlucky man let out a piercing scream as an arrow protruded from his chest. Seeing his allies meet their untimely end, the fourth man instinctively jumped to the side, narrowly evading the arrow that ended up lodging itself in his shoulder.
"Wait!" he screamed in panic as he held his bleeding shoulder. "I thought we made a—!"
Before he could finish, another arrow pierced the center of his forehead, swiftly ending his life.
But after hearing his friend's plea, Taroh immediately came to an understanding.
One of them snitched.
"Damn it!" he yelled in anger as he rose. The sight of his comrade's dead bodies pained him. "I should have known. That… bastard!" He turned to Mongke, desperate for an answer. "At least… At least let me know who sent you."
"Why not? Dead men tell no tales," Mongke rasped, a cruel smile twisting his lips. "Especially not those foolish enough to return."
Taroh's fist clenched around his sword.
"Know this. Prince Ozai sends his best regards."
Taroh's eyes widened in comprehension. "We were dead the moment we..." His voice trailed off as a sickening thud echoed through the clearing. An arrow, fletched with black feathers, protruded from his temple.
Mongke didn't flinch. He spat contemptuously at the fallen figure, muttering, "Traitors deserve a coward's death. Gather their bodies in one pile and blow it all up! That should attract the attention of the last guy."
"That won't be necessary," a deep, menacing voice in the trees spoke.
Eyes widening in alarm, Mongke turned around and received a punch square in the face, launching him back a fair distance away. With his nose broken and bleeding, he fell as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Rapidly coming to their leader's defense, Ogodei spun and launched his heavy chain in tandem with the small thwip accompanying Vachir's arrow shot from the trees.
After glancing at both projectiles and calculating their trajectories in a near instant, Nathan tilted his head back, letting the arrow sail past his face. Immediately after, he swung his leg up and let the incoming chain wrap around his shin.
Seeing this, Ogodei flashed a smile before it was wiped off. Nathan jumped high and acrobatically twirled in the air, rapidly wrapping the chain around his leg much further. The forceful movement yanked Ogodei along, the gap between them closing at a rapid pace. Landing gracefully, Nathan pulled his leg back and snapped it forward, hitting Ogodei's chest with explosive force and forcing the air out of his lungs.
Ogodei's body flew in an arc, crashing into a tree just as Nathan sensed another attack from the bushes.
Yeh-Lu, their armored explosives expert, threw a stick of sizzling dynamite. In response, Nathan removed his hat, throwing it like a frisbee and deflecting it back where it came from. Eyes widening, Yeh-Lu dived to the side, but the explosion still caught him, sending him rolling away in pain.
Sensing another attack from the side, Nathan hastily drew his sword and deflected Kahchi's strike before they entered into a duel of weapons, the Jian versus the Guan Dao. It was a battle where one aimed to injure, while the other aimed to kill. Nathan weaved through each attack as Kachi's Guan Dao spun and cut through the air masterfully, using the momentum generated to put power in his strikes while also maintaining his weapon's distance advantage with lunges and stabs.
Kahchi's ability to wield the Guan Dao in such a merciless, but refined way was the result of years of war and training, but Nathan was no slouch himself. Despite his complete lack of experience against polearm users, he had semi-seriously sparred against Piandao, a master swordsman, for many months, giving him an idea of what to expect in a real duel between weapons. And as they battled, he constantly monitored their archer's whereabouts, strategically adjusting his own position to ensure Kahchi remained a constant barrier between them. This split his attention, handicapping him somewhat.
With swift and precise swordsmanship, Nathan responded to Kahchi, skillfully parrying, dodging, and countering his attacks. Eventually, his numerous attempts to close the distance were finally rewarded when he successfully made Kahchi step onto loose soil. The man stumbled and Nathan struck at that exact moment, hitting his sword pommel into Kahchi's stomach and stepping back as the bearded man attempted to stand.
'3, 2, 1.'
Kahchi fell to one knee, clutching his stomach as a sharp, excruciating pain radiated from his stomach.
'The liver shot always works wonders.'
A lull formed as Vachir waited and bided his time, waiting for Mongke and the others to recover. Nathan allowed this, but he remained tense and cautious.
"We can put a stop to this right now. I want to negotiate," Nathan declared staunchly.
Having regained his consciousness, Mongke's pain-filled chuckled filled the silence. "Negotiate? The Fire Nation will never negotiate with spies," he answered, pushing himself up and blowing the blood out of his nose.
Nathan let out a heavy sigh. "I'm not an Earth Kingdom spy. Whatever Ozai has told you, they're complete lies."
"Ha! You hear this, guys? This spy thinks we're going to believe the shit coming out of his mouth."
Pained laughter emanated from Mongke's comrades, and they surrounded him in a loose circle.
"Oh, well. At least I tried," Nathan muttered to himself in resignation, raising his sword in a stance. 'Their minds aren't going to change, so I guess "Operation Suicide" is the only one I'm left with. I have to make it convincing, but man, this is gonna hurt…'
Mongke's ferocious roar was followed by a barrage of fire, as he and his teammates unleashed a coordinated attack, setting the forest ablaze with flickering flames. Nathan dodged, parried, or deflected the majority of their attacks. But with each passing moment of the intense battle, he feigned struggle, purposefully succumbing to the mounting pressure until he was completely "overwhelmed".
His face contorted in agony as an arrow pierced his stomach. It wasn't long before blood started to seep out noticeably, leaving a visible stain on his clothes.
"Not so arrogant now, are you?" Mongke yelled as he kicked, sending a sweeping arc of fire.
Sheathing his sword, Nathan slid under Kahchi's attack before running as if his life depended on it.
"Damn it! Don't let him escape!" Mongke ordered.
The weight of potential failure bearing down on them—they dashed after Nathan in the darkness, their senses heightened as they navigated the treacherous path, feeling the roughness of the overgrown roots and uneven ground beneath their feet. It felt like an eternity had passed before they finally reached him in a clearing next to a precipitous cliff.
Nathan's cloak fluttered chaotically in the wind before he removed it. It landed at the Rough Rhino's feet, where they stared at him with weapons aimed and ready.
"There's nowhere to run!" Mongke shouted over the wind.
Nathan didn't reply. He touched where the arrow pierced him and stared at his bloody hand, as well as the half-healed cuts on his body.
'So this is what it feels like to get shot by an arrow, huh? It certainly hurts like hell.' He looked over his shoulder. 'I guess this is it.'
Behind him, the earth fell away in a sheer drop, its height not measured in feet, but in the mighty wind that whipped at their faces. Below, the ocean churned in a primal fury, each crashing wave a testament to the raw power of nature. The jagged rocks at the base were battered by the relentless assault of the sea. A single misstep could take the life of anyone unfortunate enough. Clouds obscured the moon, and in the darkness, any unlucky survivors would find themselves unable to see what lurked beneath the water's surface.
Nathan stepped back and turned around, causing their confusion to grow. The Rough Rhinos stilled.
'Is he…?'
Arms outstretched, forming a stark silhouette against the moonlit sky, Nathan balanced precariously for a moment. Then, with a breathtaking leap, he launched himself into the abyss.
Mongke rushed to the edge with his flame outstretched, yet its brightness could only reach so far. The wind howled, momentarily drowning out any sound of impact they expected. But there was none. No sickening thud, no anguished scream. Just a horrifying silence that stretched into eternity.
Finally, after an agonizing pause, a faint thud reached their ears. Mongke craned his neck and sent a stream of fire downwards, his eyes searching the churning waves below.
All they saw was a swirling vortex of white foam, erasing any trace of Nathan that was left, and in their minds, no heavily injured non-bender with an arrow in his stomach could survive such a deadly fall.
"He… killed himself?" Mongke wondered aloud. That was not the ending he expected.
In an uncharacteristic outburst, Kahchi, the normally reserved warrior, grumbled, "He died without honor, just like every Fire Nation spy should. And yet... I cannot help but respect the strength and skill he showed as a warrior. Oddly enough, his swordsmanship reminded me of Piandao's."
"He was one tough bastard, that's for sure." Mongke clicked his tongue. "Come on. We're done here," he said, his voice simultaneously filled with satisfaction and disappointment.
They underestimated the spy's strength and cunning, nearly paying for it with their lives. Now, they had to leave immediately because all of them sported injuries that were potentially lethal if left untreated for too long.
"We need to tell Prince Ozai about the mission's success."
-=-
With their mission done, the Rough Rhinos used one of the kayaks left at the shore to reach Mao's ship. They explained to the astonished captain their secret mission's details and its completion, giving the man praise for assisting them in eliminating the Fire Nation's parasites.
But as Mao's crew welcomed the legendary Rough Rhinos and made their way back to the Fire Nation, something in the ocean followed them. Behind the ship, a resplendent glow shone beneath the water and Nathan rose from the ocean, no longer sporting visible injuries on his body.
For a long moment, he stared at the ship with a stoic expression before descending back into the water.
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット