- Oh, what a great idea he came up with! - Azula supposedly said with interest. True, such interest does not seem to bode well.
"It's true," I supported, "I didn't have to waste time, so precious now, on searching," I added ironically.
Let her understand her incomprehensible aggression. Everything turned out as well as possible, and now there's no point in attacking poor Ty Lee because of it.
"Hmm," was all Azula responded to.
- As I understand it, then our path is as straight as a gut: to Omashu, and there we pick up Mei? - I asked, - or does anyone have any amendments? I am also interested in what kind of composition we are moving in that direction.
"Totally," Azula answered, "the three of us, your... what do you call them?" Poor fellows? Here are my guards with them.
- And the kyoshi warriors? — I clarified, just in case.
-Are you sure of their loyalty? - Azula raised an eyebrow, - we are going to overthrow the government of the People of the Earth. Are you sure their hand won't tremble?
"I don't think so," the moment of betrayal from Suyuki immediately popped up in my head, but I suppressed these thoughts. Apart from this moment, everything was without problems, so I think everything will be fine - they are too valuable an asset, which has already proven its loyalty more than once. Therefore, why not? Take a closer look at them yourself closer to Sozin.
"I still think that calling the plan to take Basingse that way is, at a minimum, blasphemy, and at a maximum, slander against the royal family," Azula muttered, apparently accepting my arguments and decided, apparently, to temporarily cover the topic and mutter as usual at some topic. Well, more precisely, from the outside it sounds like a menacing irony, where even a word in the wrong place will get you burned, but in fact, I already realized that this is literally grumbling.
"I think it's pretty cool," Ty Lee added, "we can talk about Sozin as many times as we want, but if someone hears it, they won't understand anything."
"I know what code names are for," Azula answered irritably, "I'm wondering why exactly that?"
"Because a simple word, easy to understand," I shrugged, "it cannot be missed in a dialogue and it can definitely be conveyed through messengers, while it carries almost no meaning behind it."
- But…
"But I think it's more important that the plan be successful than some mythical respect for the name?" — I raised an eyebrow, to which Azula only chuckled, getting up from the table.
"Okay," she said, "we'll leave at ten tomorrow." Don't be late.
She reminded me, she reminded me, our time is planned out almost to the minute. There is not much time, and only two months were allocated for the operation in Basings. Considering that we have to spend a month there, every day is more valuable than gold. Because within a month we have to get to Omashu, pick up May there, pick up Toph along the way, and then find a way to get into Basingse and so on and so forth. In general, there is a supply, but it is too minimal to continue vacationing in Omashu. And, considering that we are from a long journey, and I am generally from one continuous adventure, I would like to sit for a week.
"Eh, she doesn't like being defeated in an argument," Ty Lee sighed, "or maybe vice versa in this case," she put one of the hands she was standing on to her chin, making a thoughtful face. And then, having done a cartwheel, she stood up.
- Till tomorrow! - Turning, she waved her hand at me and galloped off somewhere in a direction... I don't know which. She galloped away, basically.
Well, it's time for me... to jump. Somewhere.
True, it was not possible to leave to do my own thing. Suyuki caught me on my way out of the cafeteria.
- Aki, there you are! — she just spawned next to me out of nowhere, I didn't even have time to feel her. The girl was in a hurry, but in vain, I was going to them to indicate that tomorrow was the training camp.
"And I'm just looking for you," I smiled. Revenge for the fright, now she is responsible for gathering the poor fellows and her warriors - tomorrow we leave at ten, I hope you remember, you are in control, so that the poor fellows and your warriors take everything. You control today and tomorrow.
"Uh-uh," she loaded up for a second, "then it's even more urgent."
It turned out that the Mechanist and all the people from the Temple were settled here, and he is working full time at the local factory and would really like to meet you!
I was taken aback for a second.
- It turned out? — I raised one eyebrow, "Suyuki, unlike me, you've been sitting here all this time and now it's "turned out"? All this time, while we were sitting here, he could have helped a lot, but now "it turned out"?
"Oh, really," Suyuki waved him off, "you urgently need to see him."
Yes, no. It's time to stop.
"No, Suyuki," I frowned, "not really me, but you." I am senior in rank, much older, and you must have discipline and subordination. It used to be easier in this matter, but now it's more difficult. Azula and her friends will always be nearby, and they will not understand if my subordinate, my personal subordinate, takes liberties. This is simply unacceptable. And if you continue, I will take disciplinary action. Am I making myself clear?
She somehow really hurt me because she brushed me off.
"I see," apparently now she is offended and wants to show it with all her appearance, but no, this is not an everyday moment or a stupid quarrel, this is what my image depends on, and it is now more important than ever. Azula as companions is not a joke, don't forget that now we are almost friends with jokes, the mission will end one way or another, and she will return to her place, where an opinion about me will be formed. And it would be extremely beneficial for me to be remembered by her as a strong warrior and a good manager.
This is how my logic works. In any case, subordination in the army is a necessary thing, even at a basic level. Now I am far from being a lone samurai, I shift a lot of responsibility onto the shoulders of others, even in the same Basingse issue, and if before I was the ultimate joker who could turn any situation in my direction, now I am a piece on the chess field. Even if she's strong, let's say the Queen, I still can't win on my own.
"The queen can be checkmated," said a voice in my head.
"It doesn't matter," I answered, "I'm talking about a different situation. When I can defeat anyone, only the next move will a pawn kill me."
"Your analogies are, of course, magical," said a voice in my head with a sigh.
In any case, what am I talking about? Subordination is very important, and now I, on my part, also have to observe it, including drinking with the poor fellows. This happened with the new ones; I haven't fermented them yet, and I don't plan to do so anymore. Including the old ones.
"Perhaps you should go with me to the Mechanist then?" "Suyuki asked, adding a subtle note of sarcasm to her voice.
Whatever one may say, she also understands this issue. Even if it's not so spicy.
"Let's go," I nodded.
We meandered along different streets all the way to the factory. Yes, there is quite a decent factory here on the outskirts of the city. The town is coastal, you can transport a lot of resources here by ship, plus, again, if anything happens, evacuation is an easy matter, as is moving. Unfortunately, for now the most realistic way to deliver or transport something here is by water. But something tells me that this won't last long, given all the Mechanist's ideas.
- Oooh, my dear friend! - a mad scientist from the local world greeted me, - I'm so glad to see you. I heard that some high officials were arriving and immediately thought of you! So I have something for you...
"Stop, Mechanist," I slowed down my cheerful comrade, "better tell me first, how are you?" Is everything alright? How are you treated? With other settlers?
"Oh no, no, everything is fine," he said, his thoughts clearly not being close to my questions, "everyone was settled, everyone found a job, yes, in fact, at the same plant, my guys are used to such things, only the technology is better, yes... so, look what I did for you.
He returned to his topic and, grabbing me by the hand, dragged me somewhere into his closet.
The closet looked very atmospheric: everything was filled with drawings, various devices for drawing, a workbench stood to the side, where he obviously sometimes soldered, sculpted and riveted something at once, and in the middle was his work table with ready-made drawings and various papers and edits.
- Here! - he pointed to the equipment lying on the workbench, - I thought that you were missing something quiet and long-range.
My God, is this really what I think? On the table, under the tarpaulin that my now beloved grandfather had removed, lay a bracer and a supply of bolts in a special quiver.
The grandfather hurried to grab the bracer and began to put it on his hand, while simultaneously telling: "So far I've only managed to place two bolts," he enthusiastically said, "under the sleeve of a cloak, as you usually wear, it's almost impossible to notice anything, the sound makes no louder than a click." Aiming is difficult, but experimentally it was found that if you straighten your hand, you can aim the first bolt between the knuckles of the index and middle fingers, and the second between the middle and ring fingers... Wow," he shows himself, immediately taking aim twice, shooting somewhere quite accurately, I must admit, "unfortunately, it didn't work out to pull the trigger with the same hand, so I have to use the second one." Or you can do it with your nose, if you try, - yes, he then showed this option.
"How timely this is, Mechanist, you can't even imagine," I said almost breathlessly.
"But reloading like this," the Mechanist began to show, engrossed in his work; he hardly even heard my words, "it takes a long time and is not practical, but the weapon is not for battles." Two shots should be enough if you practice. The main thing is, don't put your hand out.
— Can you keep the arrows charged, or can they shoot on their own? — I clarified a rather important point.
"You put it on, put it on, let me help and show you how and what," he said, taking it off and starting to put it on my arm, "look, there's a double safety lock." One is the main one, holding the arrow trigger, and the second holds the reel taut. That's how they both come off, see? I couldn't carry out long-term tests myself, I didn't have time, but as soon as the first sample appeared, I immediately started wearing it on my hand.
- And How? — I clarified with hope.
"Well, now I have several new scars," he showed his bandaged hand with a cheerful smile, "can you imagine, I shot right in the middle of the night, I thought something fell on my hand, it hurt so much." Well at least there was no poison there!
My interest in this equipment dropped sharply.
"No, no," the Mechanist began to say, seeing my face, "don't worry, then there were no fuses at all." Somehow I didn't think that sooner or later the trigger might give way and let go of the rope. Then I added two whole pieces!
- And How? — I asked again, hoping for the best.
"Well, so far everything was fine," he shrugged, "I wore it for two days." But I would advise you to try it yourself first: cock it and put it in a box for at least a few weeks and check it. If it comes off, it's better to wear it only for work; if it doesn't come off, you can constantly wear it during combat missions. But, one way or another, after a month or two of use it is better to return it to me or even change it.
The gears in my head began to spin sharply. This is, of course, good, but I just have an invisible weapon - the wind. Even though I cannot apply it at least in some company, it is a fact. But Azula and the Kyoshi Warriors, whom I consider to be my own elite troops, are naked in this regard.
- How many bolt shooters like this are there? — I decided to clarify.
"Well," the Mechanist faltered, "this and the last two test samples."
— How difficult is it to make them? - I asked.
"Uh-uh," the Mechanist thought, "we need to look, figure it out...
"So, look, I'm now going after Princess Azula, and you'll find out how long it will take to make one of these things," I began handing out the TsU. We absolutely need something quiet and long-range, at least one per unit in different places.
- But... I haven't shown everything yet! - Grandfather was surprised.
"Time doesn't wait, Mechanist," I said, examining the bracer, "the clock is ticking, and things are simply through the roof now." With Azula, we'll evaluate everything else... And, by the way, what kind of department is this? — I saw some kind of prominent lid, which I pressed, and something fell out of it.
- Oh, this? - Already lost in his thoughts, the Mechanist clarified, - this is a compartment for candy. Do you see? Here is the packaging. To crunch, if anything.
Some kind of unhealthy laughter on the verge of hysteria was heard in my head. Well, okay, I'll go look for Azula.
Surprisingly, Azula was found in her room. More precisely, in their bedchamber, or whatever they prefer to call it. In general, I ran faster than the wind, almost literally. Still, I wasn't going to shoot myself SO stupidly, so I just ran quickly.
There was little time, and even though we were in charge, it's not worth rearranging all plans because of such a trifle. In fact, we should get all the other bolt shooters before Basingse, and there is still time before that; on the other hand, we need to get the hang of using them, and this also takes time. In general, getting a shipment right now would be very nice.
In front of the room stood two people from a casket with identical faces and were ready to stand to death, but not let me in. In general, their answer was unanimous:
"The princess said not to let anyone in," and no other reaction.
Okay, I don't care. Two blows, and two passed out bodies are lying on the floor, and I am actively and strongly knocking on the door. Flying into Azula's own room without knocking... well, I'm not that frostbitten.
- Who dared!? - the gates to hell opened for me with Azula, who had clearly just woken up from a good day's sleep and came out straight in her robe or negligee, the color next to red. Even though it smelled normal, you couldn't see anything, it's not that I was assessing it, it's more like it just popped into my head.
And on the hand, of course, a blue flame was burning, ready to burn the poor fellow, not one of mine, of course, but the one who had brought trouble upon his own head by knocking, in the blue flame and to ashes.
"There's no time to explain," I said, "I told you about the Mechanist, he ended up in this city and even has some surprises, and they will be very useful to us, we need you to appreciate it," I explained briefly, "I had to turn it off." "They didn't let me in," I said, seeing Azula's gaze at the two sleeping bodies behind me.
"Wait," was all she said.
Well, said and done, but a record five minutes and Azula opened the door, flying into the corridor and giving a clear and short order:
- Lead and explain.
"It turned out that here he and his workers were assigned to a local factory and he developed one bracer that can quickly and quietly fire a bolt," I said, "Given the upcoming mission, I thought that this was the necessary equipment for us: from a distance for a quiet We have nothing to eliminate. The problem is that he only has one sample, while I followed you, he will approximately tell you how many samples he can still make before tomorrow.
— Why was my participation needed so urgently? — even while running, she managed to maintain her sarcasm.
"Two heads are better than one," I shrugged, "considering that you are the main one in this mission, you will evaluate whether we need it or not." Because there is one circumstance... the device has not been tested properly. He completed it a couple of days ago, this final sample, and such a thing is only suitable for quiet elimination. A long reload, a shot that uses two hands and a small number of bolts makes this an almost unnecessary thing in a normal battle, but the stealth of this thing, the silence of the shot and the lethality...
"I understand, I understand," Azula interrupted me, "a weapon for quietly eliminating someone and nothing more." Something that has not yet been tested and which can accidentally shoot off your hand, right?
"Something like that," I shrugged, "plus, he promised more surprises." Therefore, I decided it was better to immediately discuss these issues with you.
This ended our dialogue, and after about five minutes we were there. Where the mechanic already met us, sitting at something at the table and calculating the time, of course.
"Oh, here you are," he rejoiced, "hello, Princess Azula." Aki, I calculated that one bolt shooter would take about three hours. This is if the full capacity of the plant is used, which, of course, is not advisable...
"Tell me the rest of what you did," I almost gave an order.
"Here," he demonstrated a strange-looking pistol, which scared me. Well, the fucked up guy has arrived, the era of weapons has arrived, and the war will gain new momentum," he fires a fireworks of a certain color.
Phew, let go. But not for long. Where he guessed this was not far from simple guns. And judging by the history of my world, from simple guns to normal lawn mowers, at least from the time of the Second World War, about a hundred or two hundred years. Well, that's if I remember correctly. I didn't study history, much less such details.
- And why do we need this? Azula asked irritably. Apparently she didn't get enough sleep. It's even more obvious.
"Well, I thought it would help to send different signals at a distance," the old man even seemed a little depressed.
"Exactly," I said, "this is what we need." The colors, as I understand it, are classic? Red, yellow, green?
- Yeah, it's not difficult to make charges, so there are already several of these boxes each, but there are only two devices themselves. - answered the grandfather, - I just haven't figured out what to call this device yet...
"Rocket launcher," I answered immediately. Why reinvent the wheel, as they say, is the most appropriate name.
- And what? Sounds good! — the mechanic smiled again, thinking about something of his own, "let it be called that." Rocket launcher. What a wonderful word...
At this moment, I silently turned towards Azula, raising an eyebrow; she, in turn, examined the bracer and bolts and was clearly thinking about the prospects.
"We need as much of both as possible," she made a decision, "for tomorrow by ten in the morning." Do what you want, but there must be two more bolt shooters and two rocket launchers, otherwise...
"Please, Mechanist," I interrupted, threats are not what this man needs, "we really need it." And then you should make as many of these as possible over the course of several weeks, and then hand them over to me. I'll tell you where to go with a falcon. We just absolutely need these two stray things.
- But that is not all! — the mechanic said joyfully, apparently because his efforts were appreciated, "I thought that an avatar that flies should somehow be caught up?" And now, follow me, I'll show you.
I already knew in advance what he would show. It's a shame that this won't be useful.
Taking us a little further down the corridor into another section of the plant, Azula and I were given a view of a hot air balloon, or rather an airship. It can be seen that it was clearly intended as a combat one, but, unfortunately...
- Wow! - was heard quite directly and admiringly next to me. It seems like they'll blow my head off, but I have to talk myself out of it.
- Airship! - the Mechanist introduced the unit, - it carries several tons of cargo, the speed is about forty-three knots, just right...
"I'm afraid not," I interrupted the Mechanist's admiring story and Azula's literally pawing at the unit with his eyes, "as soon as you pierce the ball, everyone inside is a corpse." Against us is the Avatar, who is in the air like a fish in water, and a bunch of people who can throw the earth with great force over a decent distance.
- So what?! - Azula was indignant with such an intonation, as if I had personally insulted her, - For the same assault, this is simply ideal! It's just a death machine! It's better not to come up with...
"I'm saying, specifically in our circumstances," I besieged her, "this won't help us in any way, no matter how much they want the opposite."
— Get from point to point faster? — the princess raised one eyebrow.
— So that everyone around knows exactly where we are? - I raised my eyebrow in response, - in any case, it's too early to dream about it, I will keep in touch with the Mechanist about airships.
"You must make six of these in two months," Azula said, "no less." Do what you want, mobilize the locals to work in two shifts, write to send more workers and materials, but in two months, six of them must be ready for combat.
"And don't forget to strengthen the defense," I added with a heavy sigh, "in any case, now the goal is two more bolt shooters and rocket launchers for tomorrow." "This is very important now," I said soulfully, "and then Azula and I will discuss how and why airships will be useful to us." Or they won't be useful. In any case, the technology is more than useful.
"Absolutely," Azula interrupted, "this is our ticket to victory." Even without looking at the avatar.
"Yeah," I said, suppressing the urge to roll my eyes, it looks like she's about to go jerk off to these airships, "but in any case, tomorrow, please don't be distracted by the production process," I decided to give useful instructions, "it can be built according to the drawings." anyone, but invent... so let the workers build, and you think about different devices. To be honest, you may have won the war alone now.
"If you have problems with someone who suddenly doesn't want to send resources or people..." Azula said ominously, "contact me through Aki."
It seems that the Mechanist is now Azula's favorite grandfather. Well, good. Well, that's nice. It remains to ensure that he doesn't screw up with the deadlines, otherwise Azula will be angry, and in general it's great.
He should find some kind of executive secretary. Who will clearly write down what goes where, and why, otherwise the old guy is crazy, but, like any genius, his head is full of holes in many ways.
***
By ten in the morning everyone had done everything, thank God. The mechanic with circles under his eyes brought us all four rocket launchers and four bolt shooters, one more than we needed. Immediately giving us a brief briefing. There is nothing complicated about this, but we remembered the basic things; no one wanted to be left without a finger or even a hand from the rocket launcher.
As a result, we set out a little later than schedule, we were delayed literally for an hour, well, what can we do, explanations of how the new gadgets work are worth it.
In the main carriage, so to speak, the most elite, the three of us sat: me, Azula and Suyuki, and each looked at his forearm, on which there was now a new fashionable bracelet.
"Are you sure it won't shoot off my fingers?" - Azula asked, not forgetting to add venom to her voice.
"Here come the Fire Mages," the spirit did not fail to mutter in my head, "just give me the target first, they are bare-chested into the embrasure, and now? Surely it won't cut off your fingers? Uh-oh"
"It shouldn't," I answered briefly, "after all, you yourself remember what the mechanician said." Two fuses. And in general, did you try it on? Shoot. We will check the box with the fourth bolt gun once a day, and there we will find out whether it is reliable or not.
"Hm," all Azula answered to this, "no, the plan, of course, is reliable, but let me clarify, A-aki, do you know how to act quietly?" I'm not.
"Wow, it's going to snow soon, our princess admitted that she doesn't know how to do something" - yes, the spirit today somehow perked up painfully - "What? You have finally gotten off your butts and are going to meet the avatar, how can I continue to sleep? What happened before? Should I watch your marriage games? Excuse me."
"Me too," I nodded in response, "but Suyuki is essentially a shinobi, and she, like her warriors, knows how to act quietly and unnoticed." This is what we need to learn at the nearest parking lot.
"I won't teach you the secrets of the Kyoshi Warriors," she immediately disowned.
"And don't," I said quickly, because Azula had already opened her mouth and was clearly planning to press until the bitter end, "I'm asking for general advice." Not your martial art, but how to act quietly and unnoticed. Can such training be arranged?
"Hmm, well, I think it's possible," Suyuki said thoughtfully, wondering in her head how to convey her experience in a story and quickly.
"Pfft," Azula made such a sound to this, as if hinting that she was thinking about the warrior's hesitant consent.
Oh, this will be an interesting trip.
- What are you doing? I hear you both! - Suyuki stopped us once again.
Azula and I had a more than simple task - to walk ten meters through the forest to Suyuki, who was standing with her back to us. This is the third attempt, and as soon as we walk about three meters, we hear the same thing.
"Okay, now I'll turn around and show me how you move," Suyuki said again.
We obediently, yes, even Azula, took our starting places and walked carefully towards her.
"I understand," Suyuki said after about ten seconds, "Oh-oh-oh."
- Maybe you can initiate us?
"You're moving too fast," said Suyuki, "to be heard, you should move slowly." Especially in the forest! In the city there are much more random noises, but in the forest, even a slightly experienced person can distinguish natural sounds from footsteps.
"We can't spend half an hour on one person!" Azula was indignant.
"When you gain experience and understand how to move silently, you will be able to do it faster," Suyuki humbly continued to teach us, "turn your back and try to hear me."
In general, it was a strange moment, Azula and I were taught to walk lightly, we walk like in a ballet, springy and easy, especially me, but nevertheless, we make noise. After the warrior's explanation, I realized that our step was light, but the same branches along our feet still broke, the grass rustled again. Judging by Azula's face, the full weight of what we plan to learn casually is also dawning on her.
But, again, they humbly stood with their backs to Suyuki. Personally, I had just managed to focus my hearing and try to filter out the natural noise of the forest when they touched my shoulder. Of course, it was a warrior who managed to get there in those measly thirty seconds.
"Well, it's worth considering that you don't know how to listen to the forest," she seemed to justify herself slightly.
Then Azula and I, having learned a new lesson, moved as quietly as possible, moving our legs at a snail's pace. And for the first time it worked.
Then we trained at almost every stop, starting to simultaneously spend time shooting bolts.
In both, we began to make progress, and, according to Suyuki, with monstrous steps. Well, tea is not fools and not children, so it takes a long time to master basic skills. And besides, the air also helps me.
Helps a lot.
In general, with a forest, it's like with a bicycle - you just ride it once, and then you'll understand what to do. So then I just tried to speed up and I succeeded. If before these ten steps took a good twenty minutes, now it's a minute and I'm already behind Suyuki, when Azula is not.
With the bolt shooter, everything also turned out quite easily, to be honest, there's not much need to jerk off there. We learned to shoot a little and hit a small target from the same ten meters, and good.
Whatever one may say, well, if we apply it a dozen times, it's already good. Although Suyuki has firmly settled on the device, and we understand her. In a normal battle, Azula and I are all ranged, but the warrior is purely melee. And if you add a surprise in the form of a quick small bolt to the body, then it becomes an order of magnitude more dangerous.
"Great, you've basically mastered the basic skill," Suyuki said joyfully, "now let's try further, I'm not sure that this will be useful to you, but just like with movement, you'll understand how it works, it will be easier in the future." Look: I will stand here, and your goal is to get within range of your attack. Only this time I will watch.
Set a new goal for Kyoshi.
- Come on, will you immediately give us theoretical points so that we don't waste time? — to my surprise, there was almost no poison in Azula's voice, it was clear how tired she was.
"Hmm," Kyoshi thought, "remove all objects that could somehow touch the branches and bushes, any movement of the greenery will give you away." Next, of course, your burgundy clothing colors need to be changed, because you can be seen, and seen from afar. Of course, green is best, but just black also camouflages well. Next, if I look in your direction, immediately fall down. For a person, if he sees a vertical movement, the alarm bell in his head does not go off: a branch has fallen or, perhaps, some kind of animal. But if it's horizontal: you go behind the trunk or something like that, then the person immediately understands that something is wrong. By and large, I can't tell you anything more.
Sighing heavily, at least I did, Azula, out of habit, did not show her emotions, we moved to our positions. Quite a tedious task, but necessary.
Quite soon, our skills found practical application. We came across a full-fledged camp of robbers near the road. Well, when we came across it, we were attacked by their typical patrol, which apparently stood on the road and pinched passing caravans. But we just ran into the wrong people, Azula and I were slightly tired and irritated, we burned everyone in the first ten seconds of the battle. But they took one as a tongue.
Well, he broke down quickly, all he had to do was see my mask closer.
How quickly rumors spread, almost every dog has not only heard about Kira, but even knows me by sight.
And Azula, apparently, even began to envy my "popularity." Because, how come, they didn't recognize her, the great Princess of Fire Azula, and weren't afraid, but they recognized some Aki and, bitch, they were afraid.
In any case, the bandit surrendered his camp completely and we immediately decided to arrange a judgment night for the robbers, and not a kind of concentration camp. So we would have burned them in a couple of minutes, now it will take a good hour, but what can we do?
The camp was literally a kilometer from the road.
We were a little lucky, and it was in the evening, so we, wearing dark clothes, were already quite invisible in the forest. Of course, we also took bolt shooters and headed out like that. By the way, the "test" bracer still hasn't fired and is quietly lying in its box.
Honestly, when I think about the bandit camp, I still, out of habit, remember the very first one, where there are a dozen tents around three fires. And I expected this accordingly, but what was my surprise when, from afar, the three of us noticed a palisade with the main entrance.
"What a pity we can't just burn it all down," Azula whispered.
And I mentally agreed with her.
Only the main gate was lit, near which there was even a patrol, albeit a rather lazy one. This is where the check began, when we made our way through the forest to them at a distance sufficient for a shot.
Unfortunately, almost immediately there was a small jamb, Azula stepped on a branch, and both bandits immediately reacted, however, for this they immediately received a bolt to the head.
We entered the gate quite quickly and immediately went in different directions. Inside, still surprising me, there were not tents and canopies, but decent wooden buildings. Some were sitting in a kind of gazebo, scattering drinks and cheerfully discussing something around the fire, some were simply lying on a hammock, and some, apparently, were already sitting in their houses and getting ready to sleep.
My part had just a gazebo and one house of decent size. I still haven't figured out what to do with the gazebo, but you can't shoot or simply kill them, so initially I climbed into the house. There were no windows here, only simple wooden hatches, one might say, one of which I slowly lifted and climbed inside. It turned out that there was some kind of warehouse where some guy was sorting through supplies. It was at that moment that he leaned over the box and looked for something.
A knife in the liver does not last forever, what can I say.
Out of curiosity, I decided to crawl through the boxes a little and see what was in the local warehouse. Well, nothing supernatural: food, weapons, gold. I didn't need any of this, except that I grabbed a small bag of small gold jewelry. We still have to live in Basings for a month.
I didn't know what to do with the five bandits sitting in the gazebo. How to kill them carefully and without making a fuss? Looking out the window on the opposite side of the house, I saw Azula break the neck of one of those who was sitting on the roof of one of the buildings. But she left the corpse rather carelessly: half of the body hung down, and when she moved away to return inside, the body fell. It falls quite noisily, I want to say, I would never have thought of it, but my five from the gazebo were alarmed and, grabbing a nearby weapon, went to look. Well, some were in front, some were behind, they had to go around the building.
And as in the best horror films, I simply killed the last one who happened to be behind me. True, on the second, the one walking in front turned around, and I had to speed up, jumping on him and driving a knife into his stomach, and the two people walking ahead, about two meters away, had two knives.
But in theory it sounded good in my head, but in practice it was all crap. I threw rather weakly and in the end I, of course, hit one in the hand, but not hard, and completely missed the other.
- Who are you? - one of them shouted.
- SHOO-FUCK! — the second one turned out to be smarter.
At that moment, bright blue flashes appeared somewhere in the distance, apparently Azula heard and decided that she was tired of hiding. Well, actually, me too.
Click.
"Well, it wasn't bad," Suyuki concluded, "we got inside and killed most of them before yours raised the alarm."
"Yeah, I think so too," I added, "it turned out really good." But I still feel like I'm suffering from some kind of crap. They don't even understand who they died from.
- Our Aki seems to be a bit of a maniac, right? - Of course, Azula inserted a sarcastic remark.
- No, I just know what these... bandits usually do. Hate them.
By the way, we were sitting in the same gazebo. Of the entire camp, due to its detachment from other buildings, it survived and was not burned almost to the ground.
True, none of us ate any of the locally prepared food. We are disdainful.
- Why did you let the last one go then? - Suyuki asked about one of the bandits, who clearly thinks that he was lucky and was able to escape.
"Because rumors are the best weapon," I smiled coldly, "he'll get somewhere and tell how we appeared in their camp in the middle of the night and killed everyone in a matter of seconds." Let them be afraid. There will be fewer casualties.
"Good decision," Azula nodded, "I planned to do the same." Only I would rather catch him, find out everything he knows, and then "give" him the opportunity to escape.
"No," I disagreed, "then fear won't work." He was able to escape, which means we also make mistakes and we are also ordinary people. And so he still runs, dropping feces along the way.
"I've never seen you hate someone so much," Suyuki said with a strange expression on her face, "usually you're more... reserved."
"Unpleasant associations," I shrugged, "you would understand me if we met their typical captives here." Girls who are kept as toys on a permanent basis. And such people usually love not simple sex, but some kind of perversion. Dregs of society.
To this, both girls remained silent, only slightly withdrawing into themselves and comprehending what I was talking about.
- Okay, why should we sit here? - I asked, getting up, - let's go back to the column, we have nothing left, and, finally, normal living conditions.
"It's unlikely that conditions in Omashu will be suitable... for me," Azula said arrogantly.
"Yes, but a soft bed and good baths are better than travel replacements," I shrugged.
Azula couldn't help but agree with this argument.
What can I say about the sortie? I think it will be easier in Basings. Although it's worth finding out how well earthbenders can sense other people on the ground. Toph could. The rest, it seems, can't do that. They can't?
***
"Tell me, why didn't we teach Ty Lee all this?" - I asked Azula after all our adventures in different places, - it's as if you exiled her somewhere along the entire journey.
"I didn't send her anywhere," Azula shrugged, "she herself prefers to use less comfortable places when traveling." And she has her own training - meditation.
- Well, a bolt shooter would be useful to her, no? - I asked a question, - she is still a melee fighter.
Yes, I had a trial battle with her. What can I say? Little girl, yup.
The first time we decided simply with our hands, Azula came up with the idea, and I agreed, why not. I had completely forgotten all the master's instructions, including: "don't underestimate your opponent."
Ty Lee finished me off like a turtle god, one on one without weapons and without magic, I couldn't do anything with her. In a couple of seconds she repelled my simple blows and went over my body with targeted blows, drying out my limbs.
Five minutes later we tried again, only this time I had my knives. Yes, it's scary to conduct training sparring with weapons when she only has fists, but, as it turned out, it was in vain. Her agility and unexpected somersaults, honed to perfection, made it possible to hold her own quite well against my daggers.
Once again my hands were dried up, and I, one might say, was defeated. On the other hand, this was already quite thin, and if I had used my rapier or at least a bit of magic, fire or air, it doesn't matter, the victory would have been mine.
Well, she used the weapon she'd trained her whole life—her body—and I didn't quite. I think if I had used pure air magic, she would have had no chance at all.
Yes, sometimes I went away and practiced my magic, and what can I say? To my surprise, I realized a simple fact: if some terrible opponent came against me one on one, from whom I could not escape for one reason or another, I would have to use only air. Simply because it seems that my magic has taken a small step forward due to the fact that Vaatu constantly sucks it in decent quantities to restore it.
I would say that if before I was a kind of witcher, who used a sword, a bit of magic, and even some of the elixirs from above, now weapons rather get in the way.
As Vaatu said, by and large, if I had simply trained air magic all this time, and even had a good mentor, it would have been difficult for me to defeat even an avatar in my condition.
On the other hand, he added that there was no solution in which I could calmly increase my strength as a magician, and I chose the most correct option.
Now, in fact, all these additions are stopping me more. Instead of playing with Ty Lee in close combat, it would be much easier for me to jump two meters and release a wave of air from which the girl would not hide anywhere.
What should we do about it? Who knows. I still can't completely put aside all the tinsel.
Although, I must admit, the most offensive thing is to understand that the sword, in my case the rapier, also limits me. Even if it's not strong, even if it's still on the edge, but by putting away my rapier during the battle, I won't lose my power completely from the word.
And I haven't trained with Vaatu yet. Considering that during the time of the North Pole I could fly, I can roughly guess how strong I am.
Let's just say, most likely, my bad strength, reinforced by Vaatu, would be enough to break through the very first wall of Basingse and reach the second. There, Vaatu would most likely have exhausted his supply, just as I would have exhausted mine.
But nevertheless it sounds very impressive. Another thing is that the spirit immediately cut off its strength, which it accumulates with such difficulty on unsuitable grub - my magic, it will never give up for nonsense. Either fight the Avatar or save my life. A little more training.
In any case, Ty Lee is a pure melee fighter, and a very dangerous one at that. If, for example, in the case of Suyuki, you can miss one blow and endure the pain, for example, then there is one miss - you lose a limb or magic. Not to mention the extreme pain. Approximately every blow is like hitting the nerve of your elbow when you hit it against a corner. And she can deliver about five to eight such blows in different places in a couple of seconds.
"She will work in tandem with May," Azula answered me, pulling me out of my thoughts, "and May, on the contrary, is a ranged fighter."
- M? — I raised one eyebrow, internally hoping a little that it would now turn out that May is a talented fire mage. What other long-range combat could there be?
"She's a simple person," Azula immediately destroyed my hopes, without knowing it, "so she uses daggers and throws them very well." If one on one I can defeat any of them, then together they give me a lot of problems.
- How decent?
"So much so that I can't defeat them in a training battle," Azula clarified unexpectedly diplomatically.
"How successfully she bypassed the moment that she succumbed to them as best she could," the spirit snorted in her head, and, foreshadowing my question, continued, "you yourself understand that a battle in which you do not try to kill cannot be assessed as real"
Of course, I could have said this in a more philosophical way, but it will do, I got the gist. Here the spirit, of course, is right. It's very difficult for a firebender to act non-lethally, and to be honest, I don't even know what an ordinary person can do against a firebender other than natural evasiveness. Other magicians have their own blocks, but ordinary people...
In general, this is the case, in any case, together, this couple will give the heat to ordinary earthbenders, and not the ordinary ones, according to our modest estimates, Ausla and I will take on ourselves in the center of the city.
Yes, the plan is still a rough plan with a lot of "ifs," but what can you do? For now, we will continue to solve problems as they arise.
Suddenly a simple thing dawned on me. Where are we actually going? Somehow I, the great assistant and partner of Princess Azula herself, the Dragon of the North and Cyrus, missed this moment. It was a little embarrassing to pick it up, but there was nothing to do. And I voiced it during one of the stops.
Azula looked at me strangely. And Suyuki. And Ty Lee, who finally moved here from the common people. By the way, Suyuki was also eager to join her own people, but, unlike Azula, I clearly distinguish between the commanding staff and ordinary fighters. That's why Suyuki is always here.
Plus, there is someone to send to convey something, if anything. Azula treats her direct subordinate, Ty Lee, differently. And something from the category: "Let him do what he wants." Well, it's not for me to judge, she was clearly taught this business better than me, perhaps all because Suyuki has subordinates, and Ty Lee does not.
"We're going to where Uncle Iroh and Zuko are now," Azula said with mercy.
"Oh," was all I answered. Logical. I myself pumped it up on the topic, they say, personnel is valuable, we need them.
"Actually, initially I just wanted to return them to the capital," she unexpectedly admitted, "because, given what Zuko is doing and what rumors are circulating about him, it's easier for him to be locked up in the castle, ha ha." The further he continued to look for the avatar and do nonsense. But I thought and decided that they would be useful to us in our business.
- More precisely, I told you that, no? — I chuckled, to which I received a menacing look from Azula. Judging by the slightly scared look I immediately received from Ty Lee, I'm supposed to be scared.
But somehow it doesn't work out. Azula and I feel each other's elbow quite strongly in battle, so that we can understand each other's thoughts in everyday life.
Still, a fighting style tells a lot more about a person than any amount of talk. So we somehow got to know each other in order to understand the boundaries of what is permissible, which Azula also tries not to cross in my direction.
Whatever one may say, even she understands that there is a difficult task ahead, where I will completely rely on her, and she on me, and there is no other way.
And this somehow brings us closer together, even against our will.
- And where do our disgraced princes live? — I took the topic in a different direction.
"Ha, at one very good resort in the colonies," Ty Lee answered enthusiastically, "we went there with a circus, and the aura there is so cleansed..."
"Of course, it can't compare with the coal islands, but still, they say, it's very good," Azula interrupted the circus performer's fabrications about the eternal.
"Hmm, yes, I don't even know what to do to compare someone to the Coal Islands," I answered, smiling slightly and remembering May.
- What are these coal islands? — Suyuki climbed in.
"How can you not know..." Azula began to be indignant. Another minus is that she really exalts the Fire Nation too much and very often forgets, probably even intentionally, that Suyuki is from the outback and has no idea about some kind of Coal Islands or the Gates of Sozin. In general, something irritates Suyuki Azula, not much, but like a not too annoying fly that flies around.
"These are islands located so that there is a warm climate and good water temperature almost all year round," I explained, "there are many country houses of the aristocracy and a lot of different resorts." In general, great conditions.
"Especially after the local forests were cleared of wild animals," Azula added.
- Yes? - I was surprised, - but I didn't hear.
"I personally gave the order," the princess shared, "and several squads of Fire magicians walked through the forests and cleared out the predators." Now even in the forest it is absolutely safe... "Ah, but you were on the coal islands," she switched the topic to me, raising a sensitive topic - my past. And most importantly, he asks as if by chance, but playing with intonation, and it is immediately clear that he must answer.
"It happened a couple of times," I answered vaguely.
"I wonder how a simple soldier, even a student of Piandao, could afford to visit such a place?" Azula raised one eyebrow.
"My paintings are selling well," I shrugged, mentally hoping that such an excuse would do. Because I'm not very sure of the princess's reaction if she finds out that I'm a disgraced and runaway aristocrat. They don't seem to like people like that very much, in fact. I don't know why, either they envy freedom, or it's just customary to make it distasteful. But they don't like it.
"Let's say," she finally finished x-raying me with her gaze, "in any case, now we need to get to their place of residence and take them with us."
- I hope not by force? — I chuckled, "otherwise it would be easier to do it yourself, otherwise it would be of no use, like a water magician in the desert."
"We'll see," the princess shrugged her shoulder, clearly hinting that she would like to use force. It's interesting that the brother and sister were not so divided there that they are still in such a relationship?
Although, um, remembering my brothers, it becomes clear. And then both of them have good personalities, that's for sure.
"Okay," I said, slapping my hands on my knees and getting to my feet, before that we sat cross-legged and ate the dishes that only the local chef could invent, "it's time to warm up, I think?"
"That's right," Suyuki nodded, "let's go, let's continue our...
"No," I interrupted her, "today we will have regular training." Stealth is good, but it's time for us to start improving our combat skills by learning from fighting each other. We get a very interesting picture. There are four of us who can train with each other. Two melee fighters, a mage and me, who can be either this or that. Now we will try different variations and work out the weak points of each. All agree?
"Yeah," Ty Lee nodded, jumping up and immediately standing on her hands.
"Okay," Suyuki simply nodded.
"Why not," Azula shrugged, unwittingly copying this gesture from me. Very characteristic shrugs. True, then, judging by the second widening of her eyes, she caught both the moment itself and the fact that I noticed it, and looked away, blushing just a little.
To which I chuckled internally. Sometimes people around you remind you that in addition to the fact that they are princesses, warriors and simply one of the most capable fighters, they are also teenagers.
Do I need to say how bad and scared I feel when they have their periods? While Ty Lee's character becomes only slightly different, Suyuki and Azula show the depth of their unbearability. The first with some kind of constant insults, after which she shows with all her appearance how I insulted her with something, and the second becomes three times more sarcastic and twice as angry.
The training went very well. At first, all three of us stood up against Azula as melee fighters. And if at first she only grunted in full confidence that we would not even come close, then after the first minutes of the battle, she already tried her best.
As it turned out, when three very dexterous people with different fighting styles, and therefore with different defenses, quickly close the distance, nothing good will come of it.
The strategy that came to us was as simple as two fingers on the asphalt - Suyuki and I try to focus Azula's attention on ourselves so that Ty Lee can deliver her blows.
Some grunt like Uchihas, another has mastered the Hyuga technique, I have a little something inside me, am I really in the world of an avatar?
Then we simply trained each individual according to their individuality. Two mages for a fellow, a mage and a fellow for a mage, and so on. At the same time, I tried to make sure that no one crossed the line.
It is clear that Azula alone is stronger than Suyuki and can defeat her, what can we say if we add Ty Lee to this combination. But the princess couldn't use magic too often.
In general, different variations were run so that everyone got a different experience.
In the end, everyone was satisfied, and subsequently we continued such training. I, rubbing my hands, thought how much useful could be gained if Zuko and Iroh were involved in this matter, and if the mysterious May appeared as an unconventional opponent... oh, then everyone would light up. So far, it turns out that the easiest way for me to adapt is as a mixed fighter. I have enough experience in battles both against melees and against magicians so as not to get lost from Suyuki and Ty Lee in front and Azula somewhere behind.
The tactics, again, are simple, either I stand so that Azula cannot hit with fire without hitting the other two, or otherwise I attack Azula herself.
In general, the training went more than successfully.
I made this conclusion by comprehending it after the fact, sitting at a rest stop at night, in front of the fire. The girls were already sleeping not far from the fire - a factor that I still don't understand, but for some reason they feel more comfortable sleeping like this.
Either I'm used to sleeping anywhere in my solo runs, the main thing is not on the ground, or something else, but at night, despite the carts, everyone prefers to take sleeping bags and settle around the fires. Just like now.
The funny thing is, Azula slept near the fire in the same way. But I looked at her face and thought.
She's still strange. I can't fully understand her. I found these very "elbows" of character, but then...
She seems like an arrogant bitch, but look: we eat from the same pot, we sleep around the same fire. Of course, relatively speaking, but the essence is the same. Could she have gotten herself a separate carriage, where she could have settled down in decent comfort? She could, and calmly, she's in charge. But she didn't.
It is unlikely that there is anything mystical or social in this; rather, it simply sounded irrational in Azula's head, but how it still affects perception.
Especially now, when she is sleeping. Her face relaxes and magically the standard, rather arrogant expression becomes normal. A simple, beautiful girl.
And for some reason, it was at night in a dream that she looked like someone. Maybe I would have understood who it was, if I hadn't already fallen asleep myself. Tomorrow it's early to get up and you need to get enough sleep before an important meeting, so as not to miss the moment where you need to get involved with all your simplicity and directness.
And the disgraced princes settled down well. Yes, the house and the staff and everything around are worse, of course, than the Coal Islands, but what beautiful views there are... They can compete with the Coal Islands.
But there was no time to look at the views; Azula and I hurried to the house where Zuko and Iroh would soon return to wait for them there. I cannot understand the meaning of such a dramatic appearance, but the princess hurried to take a seat at the table, while I sat a little further away, propping myself up against the wall.
By the way, she insisted that I go with her. Although I myself thought about how to butter myself up, it turned out that there was no need to invent anything. Hmm, is our fiery on the outside, but icy on the inside princess still nervous before the meeting?
In any case, the culprits of our not-so-small detour to Omashu did not have to wait long, and then literally after five minutes of our mutual silence, voices were heard. One is confident and calm, the other is noisy and slightly hysterical. As usual, however.