Forsaken Wasteland | Iroh II

.2

Chapter 2 : 

Odd Task

"Why are we here?"

At the sound of the fellow soldier, a few men and women, all wearing different coloured uniforms, turned to look at the short man. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, his face falling into a deep pout.

"It's our last training week before we get to go home," said one of the women, her short hair, shaved on the sides, falling in her eyes, "stop complaining."

The man rolled his eyes with a scowl. The woman scoffed, shaking her head and turning towards her closest companions. "Is he always like that?" she asked the two men that stood to her left. They didn't hesitate to nod, the shortest of the two glaring at the overly confident man. Before the woman could say anything else's, the door behind them opened and everyone straightened their backs. A man walked in, not looking at any of the trainees. He leaned over the facility's balcony, not paying attention to the five other people in the room.

"Is that... Commander Bumi?" asked the second girl, much younger than the other.

"You were training with the command Bumi?" asked the first girl as she stared at the commander, "I can't believe you got to train with him and us girl were stuck with that old excuse of a woman."

"Is it true that his sister died seven years ago?"

Before any of the men could answer the two girls' questions, the commander's voice echoed in the training room, "I can hear you, private Li Ann, private Alyia."

The youngest girl, Aliya, widened her eyes and straightened her back even more when the man turned to look at the trainees. "Colonel San is one of the greatest members of this force," said Bumi, glaring at Li Ann, before his eyes moved to the younger private, "and my sister went missing."

The room went silent. The tension was thick in the air and no one dared to say a word. The short man, Wang, tried hard not to roll his eyes at Alyia's sorrowful expression, Li Ann was exchanging worried glances with her brother, Kai, and Iroh, the tallest of them all, was watching the commander sadly. He had met the girl a few times, not enough to call them close, but enough to call them friends. Though, as much as he tried to hide it at the time, he used to find the girl quite pretty, not to mention smart, and his grandfather always used to tease him about it. The young prince always denied it and put the blame on the girl. It's not my fault, she's nice with everyone, he used to say to his grandfather when his cheeks would go red after the girl gave him a small flower, and his mother always laughed. So of course, when the news of her disappearance arrived at the Fire Nation's court, he was sad, sadder than he wanted to. The only real friend he had, was gone.

The commander cleared his throat, making all emotions in the training room evaporate in thin air. "As you know," started Bumi, his steps loud as he circled the privates, "this is your last week of training before deciding your fate in the United Forces. Some of you will specialise in weapons, some in bending, some will enlist in the fighting forces, other will becomes officers." His gaze fell on the young prince and his stone cold expression faltered for a second. Before anyone could notice, he breathed in and narrowed his eyes at the five privates. "This last task," he started, staring at everyone coldly, "will put every quality of yours to work."

He walked back to the white board that hung on the wall and pulled down a map. With a long stick, the commander pointed on the wall above the map. "Around here is Ba Sing Se," he said, then moved the stick higher up and to the left, "We are here, Republic City." He brought the stick back to the actual map, most of it coloured in yellows and oranges, "This is the Si Wong Desert, also known as the Desert of the Dead."

The five privates tensed at the name, making Bumi snicker. "Cool name, eh?" he asked amused, before he returned to the map with a stone cold expression. "You will be dropped here," he said, pointing the stick at the northern part of the desert, "you will have to cross the Desert of the Dead and get here," Bumi dragged the stick down to a small dot on the map, "Misty Palms Oasis. We will be waiting for you there. You will be given all necessary provisions to survival."

The commander threw the stick somewhere in the training room, not paying attention to where it landed, and turned to the privates. "You have six days," he stated, making Wong scoff. Bumi glared at him. "And that," he started again, "was us being generous. Ideal would be to have you at Misty Palms in three to four days."

Li Ann groaned and threw her head back. "How is this going to help us?" she asked, looking at the commander.

Bumi let out a loud laugh. "I'm glad you asked," he stated, before pulling down another map, still of the desert.

The five soldiers frowned at the sight. The map was littered with drawings, unrecognisable by the privates. The commander pointed to the map. "Sand sharks," he started with a chuckle when se saw the mortified expression of Kai, "giant flying insects, bounty hunters, mercenaries, sandbenders... and the worst of them all, the heat."

The commander turned to the five again, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "You will have to work together," he explained, "the inhabitants of the desert aren't your daily Republic City citizens. They don't care of your status, of your size, of your brains. If you are weak, you are their prey. Making friends around there is hard, but worth the time. However, it's easier said than done." He stared at them intensely. Kai was still staring at the drawing of the sand shark, his sister Li Ann was wearing a deep frown at the commander's words, Wang seemed both annoyed and terrified by the task, and Alyia was trying hard to shield the fear of her face. They all knew the dangers of the desert, hence its nickname. Not many made it out alive, and it was rumoured that the ones that did were never the same. However, Iroh's expression was unreadable. He was staring at the map, void of any emotion, unlike his fellow soldiers.

"This is a survival game," said Bumi, taking his eyes off the prince, "If you split up, you're on your own, as much as you search for each other, you will not find your companions."

There was a silence that hung in the room, heavy on everyone's chests apart from the commander's. Uncertainty, fear, confusion, denial all floated around the five. Kai turned to his sister. Are they really sending us to an almost certain death? he thought, and Li Ann shrugged, as if she understood his thoughts.

"You will need to work together to make it to Misty Palms safely," repeated Commander Bumi. "Good luck, we leave in three hours."

~