Madara ended up accepting Kaliya's request when she asked him to go with her, she seemed a bit… scared?... when talking about going back to the Northern Water Tribe, which was odd for Madara since the show portrayed them as good-natured people… Well except for Unalaq, but that's one villain that we should never talk about.
It was decided that they would move north in a week, why one might ask? Well, Madara was the owner of a very big and profitable business, he had many things to prepare since he would be absent for some time, he also tried to track Lei but during that 1 week it was hard to find him, "Is he busy? What's wrong with him?"
The day of their departure finally arrived and his close friends came to see him and Kaliya off, Lei will also be going with them because someone needs to pilot the ship, Madara tried to learn it once but… just like Unalaq… we should never talk about it..
Jackie hopped on the ship in silence and went towards his seat, preparing all the mechanisms to pilot it properly.
Madara went to the boiler and filled it with fuel, and ignited it with his firebending.
Kaliya sat down in silence in her corner, she seemed very… on edge…
The mood of the whole team was weird, and Madara wasn't liking it, not one bit, what the fuck is happening here?!?!
'I understand Kaliya's behavior, something happened to her that forced her to leave and now she has to face it.. but what about Jackie? What the fuck man, what is the matter with you?!?'
He took long strides and went towards the pilot cabin, opening it with a bang that startled Lei.
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong with you?" Asked Madara with an annoyed look on his face.
"M-Mr. Uchiha, there's no problem…Nothing is wrong with me…" he said while avoiding Madara's gaze 'Yeah right… ' thought Madara.
"You are a good fighter but a terrible liar Jackie, you are as bad at lying as Zuko is with intimidation, stop pretending that everything is fine when I can clearly see that it isn't…"
Lei trembled a bit when he heard that and lowered his head.
"M-Mr. Uchiha… do you still want us to learn the chakras thing?" asked Lei with a depressed voice.
"Yeah, I always did… you and Nari are like family to me, what's the big deal here?" he was quite lost here.
Lei took a deep breath and leaned back on his chair "Mr. Uchiha…. neither I nor Nari are benders… are you sure that you want us to accompany you for the centuries to come?"
Madara started to chuckle, the chuckle evolved into a full laugher that lasted for minutes, it even made Lei a bit scared of it.
"You.. are all down like that because you can't bend any element?" asked Madara while calming down from his laughter.
"Y-yes… " Lei nodded his head.
"Why? I mean…" Madara was about to talk but was interrupted by Lei.
"Because of how you trained Prince Zuko, I haven't really paid attention to these details before but… you are probably the strongest firebender of our era, are you sure you want a nobody like myself to follow you around when you can find strong benders to be your teammates?" asked Lei with a depressed voice.
Madara let out a long sigh and walked towards Lei and sat on the co-pilot seat.
"You are a fool, Jackie…"
Then came silence, no one said a word... it lasted for a while until Lei couldn't wait anymore and said.
"… And?"
Madara raised an eyebrow "There's no 'and' you are a fucking fool, period." He said with a blank face.
Lei's eyebrow twitched at that comment 'what the fuck… why are you so fucking mean?!'
"Let me ask you something Jackie, do you think that I am after the strongest benders to follow me around like a squad of goons?"
"Well... you were looking for an earthbender before…and there was that calligraphy teacher that you wanted with us…"
Madara raised a hand "Let me stop you right there, I never said I wanted an earthbender with us…. Honestly, I don't think that there's any earthbender in this world that will match my little sister in the future, there's no point in actually chasing one… Mr. Shinzu was a different case, I don't even know if he is a bender or not, but I felt something about him… he isn't a simple man and I wanted to know what that feeling was."
"B-but.. isn't having benders as followers better than having a regular person like myself?" asked Lei while lowering his shoulders
Madara scoffed "You think that bending makes others superior? Don't make me laugh! In terms of power yes, someone that can bend the elements has more destructive power than someone who can't… but at the same time it limits them."
Lei kept staring at Madara with a confused face.
"They are pretty predictable, aren't they?" Madara chuckled "Earth benders will always attack with earth, fire benders will always punch and kick fire and the same go for the other two… easy to predict, easy to counter."
"B-but that's better than having no bending at all!" Said Lei.
"Is it? Do you think your chi blocking technique is inferior to any bender? Then explain to me how you managed to win against Kaliya 7 out of 10 times?"
Lei shook his head "It was luck, she underestimates me because I have no bending."
"EXACTLY!" said Madara as he slapped Lei's forehead "Your enemy WILL underestimate you, your enemy WILL NOT try to predict you because they believe that you are no threat."
"OUCH!" said Lei while holding his red forehead with both hands.
"A hidden blade is more dangerous than an exposed one, people will lower their guard against you because you have no bending, and you, my friend…" said Madara while pointing at Jackie "…Will make them pay a heavy price for doing so." He grinned.
Lei chuckled a bit ".. But what about the Avatar? They aren't predictable either."
Madara raised his eyebrow and snorted "Now you are demanding too much Jackie, are you really trying to get stronger than the fucking Avatar? Do you think that's possible?"
Lei just shrugged "It may not be possible for me… but I believe it's not impossible for you…" he said while staring at Madara while piloting the airship, it's not like they have the possibility of crashing into something, they are pretty high up in the sky after all.
Madara snorted and made a dissatisfied expression when talking about this specific topic, which Lei noticed right away.
"You don't like the Avatar?" asked Lei
Madara just took a deep breath and shook his head "That's not it… it's not about liking it or not."
Lei was confused and raised an eyebrow "What do you mean? Mr. Uchiha… the Avatar exists to bring balance to the four nations."
Madara snorted and said nothing while crossing his arms and looking outside "I have nothing against the Avatar, I dislike the idea of having an Avatar."
Lei raised an eyebrow "Why?"
Sighing, Madara replied, "The Avatar is… a variable… and a very unstable one at that."
"What do you mean?"
Looking at the clouds outside Madara said "The Avatar might pursue the balance of the world, and that by itself is not bad but… every Avatar haves their own ideals, their own biases… and every Avatar alters this world before passing the torch to the next one, who will do the same but in their own way…"
Looking at the intrigued look on Lei's face Madara continued "Take Avatar Kyoshi for example, she is considered one of the strongest Avatars ever… and she managed to maintain balance but she claimed her own island and developed her own culture. Avatar Kuruk was a free-spirited man, who wanted nothing but to enjoy his days so he didn't do much in preserving the balance… and just like him many other Avatars that came before him had their own morals, goals, and biases and changed the world as they saw fit because of their position."
"But the Avatar is the only one that can bring balance, Mr. Uchiha."
Madara snorted at that "That's depressing, the whole world depending on one person that is just like them to maintain peace… that itself is very sad don't you think? It's like we are a bunch of toddlers and we need our nanny always watching so we don't hurt ourselves."
Lei tried to say something, but what Madara said felt very…. Accurate…
Shaking his head Madara just said, "With or without Avatar, wars will continue because we are humans, humans will never be satisfied with what they have, if tomorrow peace is achieved... in a few years just peace won't be enough, they will want more… and even if granted to them, it won't take them long until they to want for even more, it will never be enough Jackie."
"But having peace is a good thing.," said Lei.
"Well that depends on how long the peace lasts… peace is good but if it's too long it will lead to stagnation, look at us, do you think that this Airship would ever be thought of or developed if it wasn't for the war and what it demands? Wars are not good, but they do force the world to develop, peace is not bad but it forces the world to slow down… both are needed... and that is what 'balance' is to me."
Lei didn't know what to say, he could see Madara's point but at the same time, he didn't really believe that wars were as important as peace.
As they stood there in a comfortable silence a knock came from the metal door
"Come in Kaliya" said Madara
She walked in with a serious face and looked at Madara straight in the eyes. "I need to tell ye a few things before we get there…" Anyone could see that she was nervous.
Nodding, Madara said "Go ahead, you know that Jackie is family, there's no worry about sharing things with us." He then smiled to give her encouragement.
She nodded "I want to let ye know a few things… I just…" she paused trying to find out the right words, and after a few seconds, she continued "Me family was and probably still is very influential in me tribe."
Madara raised an eyebrow "So … are you telling me you ran away from marriage or something?"
COUGH.
Kaliya nearly choked after hearing that "Don't spout bullshit boss!" she was angry, but Madara was amused.
She snorted "No man in me tribe ever caught me eyes, I don't like their culture of not letting women be able to learning proper combat waterbending techniques "."
"Ohh, so that's why you ran away… because they refused to teach you?"
She shook her head "Partially…" taking a deep breath she spoke with a saddened expression.
"Me dad was taken from us in battle, I was young and couldn't do anything but when I learned that I was a waterbender, I tried to practice it in order to grow strong."
'What a cliché story…' thought Madara "Well, I believe that many share the same story with you, wanting power for vengeance and for protection."
She snorted "It's nothing like that, vengeance on whom? The Fire Nation? Yeah, would be great if I could destroy them but let's be real here... it will never happen! As for the specific person who took his life? I have no idea who the fuck he is… for all I know he might be long dead at this point."
"Then what?"
"I wanted to join the war and follow me dad's footsteps, he was a strong waterbender and respected, but … me uncle refused it, and said that it was against our rules to accept women going to war... they refused to teach me proper waterbending too."
"So, you left?"
"Nah, i loved me tribe, so I tried to change it, I gathered a bunch of unsatisfied people that who were against those rules and faced our leader, not in a battle of course, but we wanted to prove to them how many soldiers they were denying just for the sake of stupid rules, how many of our people could be saved and how many battles could've been won if they just accepted taking women!"
Madara frowned 'That's a pretty stupid rule, I have to admit' but then he looked at Kaliya and saw that her nervousness came back.
"And…?" he asked
"A-and…w-well… me Uncle charged me for a riot, trying to incite civil war or something like that … I denied… and we fought…"
Madara was frowning more and more
"I-I'm telling ye this now because I don't want ye to get angry when you discover that from their mouths…" she said while sweating a bit, she was very scared of his reaction, but at the same time, he accepted her as family, so he has the right to know.
"T-these scars were not from me pirate life… t-these scars were from me battle with me uncle… h-he was the one that…. Took me e-eye…"
The temperature suddenly skyrocketed inside the Airship, Madara's eyes instantly turned red and the three tomoe started rotating.
"…Come again?..."
Hello there my dear readers!!! did yall miss me? :D
I wish i could say that i had a health issue or a family problem to deal with but truth be told... i just wanted to take some time to read other novels as well, that's how i was inspired to write this one and reading novels is one of my biggest hobbies, i'm sorry if i made yall wait for a couple days i don't really regret taking a couple days off to enjoy some reading it kinda recharged my inspiration, i saw many good ideas in many novels that inspired me even more!
So i'm here to post this chapter today and i'm already writing the next one because i kinda want to compensate for the days i missed :( yall follow my work with such passion and it feels bad to skip on a day or two.
So i'm working on the next chapter already i don't know if i can post it today, but at least tomorrow morning i will try my best.
See you on the comment section guys :D !
"B-boss, please calm down!" said Kaliya who was already in a panic as she started sweating.
"M-Mr. Uchiha, please calm down!" Shouted Lei, sweating like a pig as the temperature kept rising.
"You are telling me, that some dimwit idiot from the Northern Water Tribe, and a member of your own family… Gave you all of those scars and caused you to lose an eye?!" Madara was livid.
"I-it was an accident! W-we were fighting at night and we weren't paying attention… it was a full moon, and… in the end, he felt so much guilt that he himself aided me to escape the tribe…" she touched her eyepatch and lowered her head in shame.
Madara was still fuming but managed to calm down, though his sharingan was still on.
"Name."
"B-boss, he is my uncle, p-please don't do anything rash..." she pleaded weakly.
"NAME!" he shouted in anger.
She lowered her head and clenched her fists feeling powerless. "P-Pakku…"
The name echoed in Madara's ears and his sharingan started to spin faster.
'This fucking bastard…. I already disliked him for his behavior in the series… and now I discover that before Katara there was another one who suffered even more… and this one is someone that I cherish…. Oh… Iroh… you will have to find another waterbender for your White Lotus… this one won't be able to bend even his own back when I'm done with him!'
Madara took a deep breath, calmed himself a bit, and walked away from the pilot's cabin towards his own room and wasn't seen for the rest of the trip.
Kaliya stood beside Lei, looking at the closed metal door in silence.
"I hope Mr. Uchiha calms down… We should be reaching the Northern Water Tribe in 20 hours." Said Lei while wiping his forehead and neck with a handkerchief.
Kaliya felt incredibly torn right now, on one hand, Madara was pissed and angry because of what happened to her… on the other hand… it was her own uncle and the last living member of her family outside of herself.
"I-I hope that Boss calms down..." she said as she sat down in a corner and lowered her head.
The rest of the trip felt agonizing, it was a heavy oppressing atmosphere that accentuated the silence even more, almost to the point of making it... suffocating.
The next day Lei rang a bell which echoed throughout the whole airship, indicating that the Northern Water Tribe was already in sight and they should be landing in a few minutes.
Madara finally showed up with a calm and serene expression, but his sharingan was always on and it made them believe that for the past 20 hours he didn't deactivate it.
------------------------------
It was noon, the sun today was shining bright in the sky, very few clouds could be seen and if this was any other place in the world, one would be able to hear birds chirping.
The capital of the Northern Water Tribe, also known as Agna Qel'a, was considered one of the wonders of this world, a whole multi-tiered city built on the ice, with waterways that seemed to resemble the canals found in Italy, while the design of the arched bridges connecting the two sides of each canal resembled those of Venice, and the Architecture of most of the city is strikingly European. Looming over the city are giant ice cliffs from which it was originally built.
It was a normal day for all of the tribesmen of Agna Qel'a when one of the watchers on top of the huge ice wall that blocked the view of the city from outside spotted something making its way towards them.
Running towards the nearby station he signaled the alarm and many soldiers climbed on top of the walls to keep an eye on the thing in the sky.
"Chief Arnook! We spotted some flying balloon ship coming towards us! It resembles the Fire Nation regular ships," said one of the captains to a tall middle-aged man that had bright blue eyes, long dark brown hair with typical water tribe blue adornments, and a well-kept beard.
Turning around the man called Arnook looked at the captain and nodded.
"Tell me everything, but first alert the waterbending masters to get ready to strike if needed."
"Yes Chief!" the man spoke to some of his subordinates and went back to Arnook to tell him the details.
The whole city was in minor chaos as the Airship drew closer and closer, flying around while looking for a flat place to land.
All the waterbenders were ready to attack at a moment's notice but Arnook raised his hand.
"Don't attack yet!" he shouted.
"But Chief, they probably are from the Fire Nation!" said one of the masters.
Arnook shook his head "I see no Fire Nation insignia on that ship, and they are way too prideful to use such underhanded tactics to attack us, not only that… this ship is here alone, there's no one else spotted either in the sky or on the sea."
After the ship landed and was surrounded, the ramp opened and a trio walked outside.
The first one to come outside was an average-looking man with long brown hair and a black tunic with green and yellow details, the clothing style itself was very common in the Earth Kingdom.
Then came out a woman covered in scars with an eye patch, this one made Arnook raise his eyebrow because he recognized her instantly, though her clothes were very outlandish for a water tribesman, the colors and adornments were there.
Then came the final one, a young man by this world's standards, he was tall and had long spiky pitch-black hair and wore black and red robes with silver details and gloves with a few adornments. Just by looking at his complexion and specific aesthetic traits of his face, hair, and clothing style Arnook could already judge a few things about him. 'Firebender… or at least from the Fire Nation.'
As the trio walked outside, the Earth Kingdom man whistled
"This is quite the welcome… Kaliya are you sure we should've come here?" he said while turning to the woman.
'Kaliya, huh? So, it's really her…' thought the Chief.
"…Honestly, I'm starting to reconsider me idea right now…" she said with a wry smile, which made a vein pop on Lei's forehead.
"You had two whole days to figure that out and now you are regretting it?! Damn woman!!" said Lei while huffing, can anyone blame him? To the Northerners, he might be behaving like a mad man, but he endured a whole day of the heavy atmosphere inside his ship while piloting their way here. He was quite on edge right now!
Taking a step ahead while being followed by two waterbending masters, chief Arnook introduced himself. "Greetings, welcome to the Northern Water Tribe." He said, trying to break the ice.
Lei sighed and scratched the back of his head while walking toward Arnook. "Thank you for not attacking us right away, we came here for the sake of our comrade here," he pointed towards Kaliya from over his shoulder.
Arnook nodded and looked at the three of them, then looked at the ship "Is it just the three of you?" he raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
Lei chuckled and nodded. "Yes, this is our private Airship, we are not from the Fire Nation or any other hostile force."
Arnook had an amused look on his face "You say that but… that one over there," he pointed towards Madara. "He is a firebender, isn't he?"
As his voice fell, every single soldier took their battle stances ready to pounce on the trio.
Lei was about to talk but was interrupted by Madara.
"Ho… You barely even know me and you already want to attack me…" said Madara while walking towards the Chief.
Arnook looked at Lei, who he had thought was the leader, and asked "And who is this?"
Lei could only give him a wry smile 'Chief… if you value your city… stop poking the hornet's nest… please…' he coughed "Ahem, this is our leader, Madara Uchiha… and as you have guessed… he is a firebender."
The moment he said those last words every single soldier rushed towards them, even the masters were already bending water preparing to attack.
In a split second, Arnook looked towards Madara and saw inhuman red eyes, with comma-shaped details spinning slowly as he looked towards the crowd already rushing towards him; he saw something in those eyes and shouted instantly.
"STOP!"
Although all the guards, masters, and soldiers hated the Fire Nation to the core, the culture of the Water Tribe was deeply imprinted in their beings, and the Chief's words were absolute. So, they stopped mid-rush, and the masters slowly stopped bending water but kept their guards up.
Madara was amused by their behavior, looking around he was not even bothered by their numbers or hostility, he was just scanning their faces one by one and he reached a conclusion.
'He is not here….' He narrowed his eyes dangerously and clenched his fist behind his back.
Kaliya was also looking around subtly, trying to locate her uncle, and was very relieved that he wasn't around, yes, she lost her eye because of him, and these scars were also part of the package, but she knew it was an accident, how one might ask? Well... she saw his reaction after it happened and she knew he wasn't faking it… Especially since he even helped her to escape afterward.
After looking around she looked towards Arnook and walked toward him
"Long time no see… Chief..."
The man looked at her with a conflicted light in his eyes. "Welcome back… Kaliya… Mind telling me why you are running around with Fire Nation people after all that you have been through?" he said while staring at her burned scalp.
She chuckled "I mind, it's me business and nothing related to ye or ye tribe… but for the sake of me homeland, I shall answer that question." She pointed towards Madara. "This one is probably the biggest threat for the Fire Nation in our world… except for the Avatar of course… but that one has been gone for a while.."
Everyone was confused, the Chief was even more confused, partially because of what she said, but mostly because the last time they spoke years ago, she was filled with anger and resentment, but now she was calm, the only weird thing he could see in her eyes was… Worry?
"Tell me the details, please..." said Arnook, understanding that he had no command over her after she left, and trying to be forceful wasn't really his way of doing things.
She snorted. "We talk later, what kind of host are ye, letting us wait here outside where it's cold?"
One of the masters came closer to the Chief and whispered, "We can capture the firebender while you talk to that lass, Chief."
Arnook shook his head, he felt some fear when he looked at Madara's eyes, it was like the spirits were warning him to not mess with this one… as the Chief, he was very attuned to the spirits and took their warnings very seriously. "No, they are with Kaliya so they are our guests."
At that time the trio had some thoughts.
'Thank ye Chief, ye have no idea the disaster ye avoided.' Kaliya.
'Phew, that was close... If they triggered Mr. Uchiha's bloodlust here after that trip…' gulp. Lei.
'…What a pity… I really wanted them to give me a reason…' snort. Madara.
The soldiers were dismissed, but they went back to their posts while on full alert after discovering that one of their guests was a firebender.
As they walked through the streets and canals of the capital, Lei kept looking around like a tourist, in awe by the Northern Water Tribe aesthetic, clothing and culture. Kaliya looked around with nostalgia, although she didn't want to come back here, now that she is back, she noticed that she kinda missed it.
Madara on the other hand kept staring around like a predator, scanning every person's face as they walked through the city.
'I will fucking find you.'
Hello there beloved sausages! i hope yall had a great day
and i'm here to post my daily chapter :D
Well the plan was to post this in the morning and then write another chapter to post it tonight but... well... it was raining today and it made me lazy and sleepy so i slept a lot XD
Don't blame me okay D:
Anyway i'm already writing the next one so i will try to post as soon as possible :D i hope you all enjoyed the chapter, i know it was slow but every 'introduction chapter' is like that, i like to slow down during these chapters so the reader can situate and immerse themselves at the new location before get the ball roling :D
Now where the hell is that Uncle hun? D: idk, i swear! D: perhaps we will find out next chap <3
See you in the comments and stay awesome! ^_^
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